Old World Blues Mk 2: Electric Boogaloo
by Lo and behold my fiction
Summary: Courier Six: Hero of The Wasteland, Guardian of the Big Empty, and overall giant power-armored menace to the former Legion. What befalls this poor soul when not only he, but the whole of Big Mountain, is brought to a realm where nuclear war never touched the ground; A realm not of survival and conflict, but of nature and good will? Go ahead, review me. I dare ya.
1. Big Iron

_"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts."_

 _William Shakespeare_

* * *

Dateline: 2286

Location: The Big Empty (MT)

* * *

We see a massive crater, filled not with radioactive rubble, but countless wonders and technology that even beings beyond the stars couldn't fathom. This is Big Mountain; once the crown jewel of the American Continent, now a shining beacon of hope for the rest of humanity.

One lone figure walks amongst the ledges of the crater wearing slightly rusted power armor and an equally conditioned helmet, this man is a lone wanderer...no, a courier. But he's not just any courier, he's THE Courier; the man who ended a four year long war between a dictatorship and a republic, the man who became The Legend of The West, a hero whose legacy would spill out to the lands east of The Colorado as the man who killed Caesar as he sat upon his throne, yet showed mercy to the many denizens of the wastes and even to Caesars top officer.

From Freeside, Goodsprings and all the way to the Valley of Zion, the Courier had shown the Wasteland that there was indeed a time for kindness and mercy, this courier has no name, no family, and no true allegiance. He heeds by many names, lobotomite, Courier and Six to name a few, but most just acknowledge him as The Hero of The Mojave

Thus The Hero of The Mojave carries on, unaware of the role he is about to play.

The figure draws close to the center of the crater, where a monstrous dome resides, almost as if it is mocking one to try and enter inside, fortunately our courier isn't one who is fazed by appearances alone.

Entering the section known as the "Think Tank"; five protected brains sustained in glass float almost angelically across the scene, monitoring their responsibilities to no end, one should immediately note that a tinted hue of blue covers the interior, one may also find that one of the brains has noticed their visitor.

A static-filled but recognizably feminine voice calls out. "Our little teddy bear returns! Have you returned for testing, perhaps you've found that you need your spine and heart back? They're still fresh should you decide on returning to your natural...state of mass." The figure shakes his head, taking off his helmet, we see a man weathered by years scouting the Mojave, a thick blanket of dark brown facial hair covers his face, a blasted back hairstyle complements his somewhat youthful features, but is noticeably growing a little greyer. As if to surprise the brain, the man speaks.

"I'm fine without them." His voice cuts through the air like a chainsaw through steak, a coarse, rough voice that makes us think that it isn't used to speaking things other than distance, stims and wait. "I do, however, have several questions, notably, why has the Forbidden Zone been quiet? Mobius usually brings something up every other week."

"Talk to 8 about that actually. He did say he found something intriguing in the soundwaves emitting from out that direction around the airspace, he wanted to speak as soon as necessary."

At this, the courier stomped towards 8, the sound-bending genius with a penchant for opera music, something the Courier respected very highly, noticing the footsteps, 8 let out a series of beeps and static codes. RobCo Code, something our Courier was very familiar with, considering his mutual standing with one Robert Edwin House.

"Glad to meet you too 8, Dala said you found something suspicious out towards Mobius' land?" 8 simply nods, well...he nodded as well as a robotic brain could at least. "Let's take a look at the data, if it's compelling enough I'll check on it personally."

Merely responding with a beep, 8 prepares the recording, detected by a signal rectifier on the top the Think Tank, an unusually high soundwave bounced across the spectrum, so powerful it was that Big MT was initially put on lockdown when it was first identified. The courier had heard it being mentioned days before that several dozen heads of cattle in a nearby settlement had died suddenly and for no apparent reason; his assumptions were now as solid as ever. Mobius must've had something to do with the soundwave and cattle deaths.

"This soundwave may have been the reason behind the Brahmin deaths in the Mojave, try and contact Mobius. We need to find out what that signal was about. I'll head out there to see what's up in the meantime."

An affirmative chirp came from 8, confirming his choice in heading out the northern dome.

* * *

The Courier now wanders alone, trudging towards a dome lit ablaze with red lights, in contrast to the calm blue that gleams marvelously off the Think Tank, the red dome that is the Forbidden Zone; home to the brilliant, albeit eccentric, scientist, mentat enthusiast and a being that's close enough to the courier to call a friend; one Dr. Mobius, the brain he considered most human and most capable to handle the situation that presents itself.

"What could that crazy scientist do now?" The courier asked to himself, armed with his wits and minigun in tow, Courier Six stomped off to the big red dome up north, no doubt to see if his closest colleague was in any danger. Aside from Lily, Gannon or Raul, he never sought other teammates for conversation; the man known as Mr. House was a solid friend and confidant, but his interests clashed with Six's. Whereas Six stood for the Mojave to stand free and independent, House merely saw it as prime real estate, not to say that he was a bad or evil man, but he saw his own way of preserving mankind, and Six respected this.

Six knew that humanity would need to unite itself in order to truly survive, more war would simply drive the point home that maybe we should have been wiped off the planet. Shaking off his thoughts, the armor-clad courier arrived the distinctly red sliding door that housed Mobius' laboratory, here he was, standing at the front of the X-42 Robotics Workshop, home what the courier declared was once a "Freeside-sized Roboscorpion."

* * *

Entering the buildiing, there was a large device sitting right in the center, thinking that Mobius must have built it, Six took to investigating the anomaly. It wasn't particularly large or foreboding, standing some 20 feet in height, and notably thinner than the bottom sliding hatch that it evidently must have come through. The device was definitely an oddity to gaze upon; for at the top sat a sphere, glistening from what appeared to be lightning, evidently it was a tesla coil, a very large tesla coil at that.

" _The good doctor must've found a copy of Nikola Tesla and You, wonder if he still has it. I want to read it next_." Brushing off his inner monologue, the courier took to searching for Mobius. First entering the tank that Mobius secluded himself to, the courier found an intriguing sight; papers and charted readings were strewn and scattered across the upper levels, some highlighting **"a peculiar trend in high-frequency and high-altitude anomalies"**. No doubt the doctor was as confused as he was, reading more papers detailed how the roboscorpions and free-flowing electronics shorted out due to a high-frequency soundwave not unlike an EMP blast, causing permanent damage to the circuitry inside, it appeared that Mobius was trying to make sure this didn't affect the brains, nothing more appeared on the subject as this was the most recent document, written up rather hastily not even a half-hour ago..

Six was definitely worried at this finding; if the brains could be affected, it might cause severe permanent damage or even death. Six needed to find Mobius and the source of the disruption. The situation had just become a matter of extreme importance, if the brains fall, the effects would be felt across not just the Mojave, but the entire country.


	2. Spirit In The Sky

The Think Tank stood silent; for once, the brains inside had no idea what to do. Mobius was as silent as a church mouse and a storm was preparing to surge over the crater they called home, they had remembered of the winter that covered the planet a century before, they remembered how the earth was frozen in ice and snow, they were afraid another catastrophe would befall the planet once more.

As the brains try and determine the amount of damage the storm could cause, a loud roar echoes across the land, the storm was picking up intensity rather quickly, declaring its power to the world.

"8, can you figure out how strong the projected force will be?" This was Klein; the head researcher in charge of the tank, without him, no supplies would come in and nothing would go and boastful was he, and was contempt with calling the Courier "Lobotomite". Right now though, Klein was worried, neither Six nor Mobius had been heard from, more than likely they were dead, this caused his mind to silence itself for a moment, the other brains had sensed the dread and possible realization as well.

8 simply muttered a few beeps and chirps, informing the group that the intensity of the storm would cause even the most experienced courier to take cover and wait things out. The brains were worried, worried that their protector and occasional lab rat wouldn't return from the northland.

* * *

Six was pissed off, the storm and poor visibility meant that he wasn't returning to the Think Tank anytime soon, best he could was continue the search for Mobius, and pray he didn't run off into one of the other facilities. Aside from a few scattered roboscorpions and the occasional piece of scrap, our courier found nothing until crossing over a flight of stairs, it was Mobius, frantically pacing about highest levels of his lab.

"Doctor, are you alright?" The courier was at a loss for words, the good brain surely did seem beyond terrified and the courier could clearly guess what his fear was.

Mobius looked to his rear, and happened upon the courier. Relieved to see Six, the doctor offered a mentat out of natural kindness then, almost immediately, returned to his frantic flying, spouting out instances of near-destruction such as the Great Winter or the Cyber-dog Rebellion of '98. To say Six was confused was an understatement., Winter? Rebellion? He needed to know what was going on.

"Mobius, what's going on? You're never this scared of...anything really." It was true that Dr. Mobius is a kind man...errr brain one may suppose, but was equally brave as referenced with his "battle" against the courier; never before had Six seen a man...brain be so calm in the face of an individual wearing a full set of T-45D Power Armor, but back to reality, right. Six had to figure out what had Mobius so worried, the poor doctor, in his frantic state of mind, nearly blew a fuse over the danger presenting itself.

"I want you to take a look at these charts Courier, this chart bouncing up and down represents the Richter Scale, it's an earthquake, a powerful one, and it's extremely close to breaking the scale!" The Courier was confused, earthquakes, big ones even, were relatively common in The Mojave, plus the crater was well protected from severe damage...right? "Mobius, we aren't worried about the earthquake right, What about the storm?" Mobius was slightly less nervous now, regaining his composure, he continued. "Not at all, not at all, what I am worried about is this OTHER chart, it classifies the severity of storms that pass through this section of the Mojave, this monitors conditions such as wind speed, cloud density and strikes per second."

Six was confused at this point. "So the storms are the real problem?" Glancing over the chart, every bit of it seemed off-key, and it worried the doctorto no end. "Exactly, the lightning strikes and pattern area are what I'm worried most about, they're striking to and from a centralized area, like the tesla coil in the main room, it has to be an artificial storm!"

Six finally comprehended the situation. There was an artificial storm heading their way; thereby being man-made, so surely there must be some way to stop it, right? A direct hit from a Fat Man should do the trick easily, perhaps his minigun would make brahmin meat out of it. With that thought in mind and minigun for many fun, the walking tank thundered off into the dust storm that was surely brewing outside.

"You can't go out there!" Shouted Mobius as he raced back to the coil in the central hanger. "The storm would surely rip you apart." The courier replied bluntly "I'm a walking tank, armed with the equivalent of an old world armory. I'm sure I'll be fine." With those words, the courier marched on, ready to face the eye of the storm that threatened the brightest minds of the world, and prepared himself to show the anomaly what the Guardian of The Mojave was made of.

* * *

Dateline: Unknown

Location: Unknown

* * *

"What do you mean the drone hasn't returned to our radar?" A deep voice in questioning tone asserts itself, to which a more feminine voice responds in equal measure. "It...simply disappeared off the map, it went off into Arceus-knows-where and reported that it was nearing a mountain, the active camo is disguising itself as a massive dust storm, possibly to blend in with the environment."

Two figures sit at a desk, staring blankly at a computer monitor; before their eyes they see a massive hole in the ground surrounded by the ruins of what appear to be cities and military outposts.

"Are you sure we haven't discovered a new region? This place looks nothing like Kanto, Hoenn, or even Sinnoh for that matter." The deeper voice aptly responds wih a brisk reply. "It could only be a new region if it's covered in ice, so far all we've seen is desert and the occasional tow; although they appear to mainly be in ruins, how long until the device returns to the timeline?" "Approximately 45 minutes sir.""Marvelous, monitor the...is that a statue on the hill over there? Zoom in on that object, it's holding something."

The female voice, responding to the order, operates the drone to zoom in on their intended target, what she see's is an armor-clad giant, possibly standing eight feet tall, armed with a six-barreled firearm of some sort, on its back was a launcher of sorts that she could only assume that was for far more...destructive purposes, and true to her thoughts, the six-barreled device being held was indeed firing at their drone, and they could tell it was going to end terribly rather quickly, the man in charge only had one order.

"If this drone's going down, take that thing with it!"

* * *

If you told Six he was going to fight a dust storm with a minigun, he would've asked you to jump into a rad-pool; but alas, here he was, firing said minigun at what was apparently a pre-war drone...miniature Vertibird maybe? He didn't care, he just wanted the thing gone and life back to normal.

Pumping every 5mm round he had into the thing, it was finally glowing, glowing red that is. Six assumed it was merely going to blow up any moment now, but it didn't, rather it was coming down straight for him! To say he was startled was an understatement, at least the power armor had a built-in toilet system. Six ran as fast as a giant walking tank could run, but to no avail as the drone crashed into the force field, and with it, came a second power surge, afterwards, came darkness.

* * *

"What's happening to the drone?" The woman was panicking now, her face was disheveled, and her tone of voice akin to that of a nervous wreck.

"It's coming back! Redirecting it to an island of the coast of Kalos." The low-voiced gentlemen said calmly "And why would you go and do that?!" "Because if the project was successful, it's going to bring everything within a 10-kilometer range to this timeline."

...

...

The woman finally responded. "So we're bringing that thing and whatever it was protecting here, ow do we know it isn't going to hunt us down?" "Simple. I saw no aerial or land-based vehicles in the vicinity, they have no mode of transit to leave the island therefore we would be able to gather the materials at Lysandre's request, from previous records and outer timeline reconnaissance, the crater is a lab, a big one at that, home to the brightest minds their world had to offer, it's possible the creature is simply a wanderer. I doubt there's actually serious security in place, tell the crew to gather up in the helicopters, threat level is minimal."

* * *

A figure stands vigil upon one of the many ruins of Big MT, wearing a simple duster and face mask, he looks towards what is not the present but rather what will be the future of the Big MT and the role it will play in shaping the lives of many for years to come, the man speaks as if to nobody but himself.

"I had a reading from a child under the 188. This child told me that the lab under the dust would play the part in a battle of legends in a land not dictated by the laws of science and logic, but rather by creatures whose powers would dwarf those of the old world nations. I can only pray that history doesn't repeat itself, so are you ready to venture on the road less traveled yet again Six?"

With this silent question in mind, the mysterious figure continued his silent watch over the complex; waiting for an answer he knows he won't get for quite a while, knowing that insurmountable change was coming, for better or for worse.


	3. On The Eve of Destruction

_"War, war never changes."_

 _Whatever his name was in Fallout 4_

* * *

"Do you think the lobotomite survived at all?"

"Of course he did, the guy doesn't have a spine or a heart, so broken bones and heart failure are out of the question."

"Whose idea was it to carry him back by cyber-dog?"

Simple chirps and beeps are heard as a reply.

"Bravo 8, at least one of us figured out what to do...Wait, he's regaining consciousness!"

And indeed it was, Six had woken up from possibly dying once again; with an exasperated breath, he questioned the brains who had told him something he never would've believed.

"Trees and flowers? What the hell is a flower Klein?"

"Ah of course, forgot about nuclear armageddon and the near extinction of humanity, flowers are errr...like miniature trees I suppose?" This confused the wanderer to no end, what kind of experiments did they conduct to get this result in a short amount? How many people were killed? He wanted answers, and now was a good time to get some.

"Who was killed to achieve the result? Dala? Dr. Zero? Anyone?"

No one came to answer his question, it wasn't until 8 told the Courier to go outside and see for himself.

Egressing from the lab, Six met an astounding sight; there was green everywhere, not radioactive green but rather grass green, the trees had leaves on them, flowers were blooming, and spring was evidently underway. It scared Six to no end, this wasn't normal, this wasn't right, none of it was! He honestly thought he would go insane at that point, but soon calmed down, figuring that there several points he should take note off.

One: It was evidently springtime, the sky was a clear light blue, with only the occasional cloud popping up, the smell of the flowers and trees were in stark contrast to the bitter desert dust and occasional cacti he was used to, it felt soothing to his senses.

Two: By gathering a better look of his surroundings, the wanderer figured that the complex had been relocated, as crazy as that alone sounds, to the base of a mountain or platea; in the distance could be seen vast swaths of meadowed grasslands...there was even a settlement farther out! Arming himself with his trusted sniper rifle, Six could see a town or village that was clearly untouched by the ravages of war.

Three: That object he fought against clearly had something to do with the complex's relocation...The drone! Dr. O could dissect it and figure out the devices capabilities. The Courier needed to find it right away, thankfully, while the land around the complex clearly changed, the complex itself hadn't. Six marked his map at the last location he remembered, the Forbidden Zone, checking one last time with his scope, he clearly saw light lines going across the border in a circular fashion, confirming that the barrier was still active and was capable of protecting the Big MT from outside threats whilst keeping threats to the outside in.

Six prepared himself to enter the northern zone, only to stop and glance to his left, swearing he saw something in the shadows of the forests nearby...then he remembered how strange that sounds already, moving past his thoughts, the wanderer carries onwards to the north, thinking heavily on how he should schedule some time for a vacation.

* * *

"We've searched every island, can't find a single building or domed structure for miles."

"Check again! It can't still be there can it?"

"According to the drone, it was indeed brought to the region, sadly the homing beacon died several hours ago."

Half a dozen figures were inside a small helicopter, scouting an area combed with islands and beaches for any sign of the complex they had stumbled upon, the team of grunts in charge of the drone were getting triple-pay, so they weren't ones to question authority at this point. Soon the helicopter pilot spoke up.

"Hold on, spotted somethi...that's just a tall rock, false alarm guys."

These men and women were members of one Team Flare, a group of people dedicated to making a "better world and future." Led by a man named Lysandre, they work all throughout all of the Kalos Region, inching their way towards their ultimate goal.

Right now though, they're stuck until they find the complex they brought to their realm; a complex filled with every science known to mankind, a complex that could have the capabilities to single-handedly power a Team Flare revolution, thus solidifying their standing not just in the region known as Kalos, but the world over. Team Flare is on the hunt for Big Mountain, and they have no plans on stopping until it's found.

One of the members spoke up. "Command just gave us a new location, the forested hills near Pomace Mountain, double time pilot!"

With that, the helicopter took off, headed towards its target with confidence.

* * *

Finally reaching the Forbidden Zone, Six was disappointed to find that the drone, or what was left of it, didn't survive the impact or resulting cosmic teleportation that followed. There was nothing left except a piece of metal with the symbol of a flame. It definitely wasn't Brotherhood or NCR. Legion never had any aircraft, couldn't be them either, Six figured it may have been a rogue team of Enclave, that had to have been it.

But other things crossed Six's mind, was the good Doctor Mobius still alive? He was determined to find out, entering the Workshop, he was delighted to see Mobius coming out of his tank, and approached the doctor immediately, with questions in hand of course.

"Good to see you survived doctor, any clue as to what the damage is?"

"Running several diagnostics. I concluded that the complex is actually running more efficiently than it did before! The solar panels are finally putting out their money's worth."

"That's great, so no damage to the facility as far as we know?"

"None that I can determine, though the fauna outside is rather...green and fresh in appearance. I would suggest reconnaissance of the surrounding area immediately, but that's just my recommendation."

Six nodded in confirmation and set out towards the barrier fence, setting his sights towards a particular meadow southwest of the facility, he walked towards the closest barrier, armed himself with the sonic emitter acquired from Dr. 8 on his first round here and fired at the light blue wall, causing it to be temporarily disabled. As far as Six knew, none of the other human test subjects had survived the impact; this was reinforced as he hadn't seen a single lobotomite all day..It felt strange, almost peaceful. Naturally hesitant, Six carried on in a near clumsy fashion towards the woodlands and meadows, his legs feeling heavier as the ground underneath him was getting softer, looking back, he saw large footprints matching the undersole of his boots.

Six, getting accustomed to his surroundings, found that the forest almost seemed to entrap him, beneath his feet sat a single flower, what were they called again? This one had a name..Lily! It was a lily and it reminded him of the nightkin he had made friends with so long ago...picking up the flower, he held it as gently as an armored beast could and let out a sigh that seemed sad, or was it a sigh of reminiscence? Either way, our wanderer was soon shaken out of his trance by rustling in the nearby trees. Six was now on full alert, armed with his minigun, he trumbled over to the treeline, bending down, he prepared to fight whatever came out of the bushes, he was prepared to fight...

...

"Ches!"

What the hell was it? The Courier was stupified, confused and outright embarrassed, he was almost about to attack this adorable little...was it a porcupine? It was something standing on two legs, this little creature was brown in fur color, but had what looked like a green helmet with five spikes on top; paint the top red and you would have the most adorable raider ever.

Six took his helmet off, and looked at the creature amusingly. "So what's your name little guy?"

"Ches? Spin! Chespin ches chespin." The thing was doing movements, jazz hands and everything, Six could barely hold his laughter, oddly, the creature was still talking. "Ches spin spin spin ches, chespin!"

It appeared there was an evident language barrier in place here.

With a heavy sigh, Six put his helmet back on, and continued on his adventure through the woodlands...with a certain brown armored squirrel following close. Six didn't mind, besides he missed the days of Rex following him through the Mojave, this seemed no different at all. They finally came out of the woods and came across the meadow lands.

The meadows were a sight to behold, flowers of all colors grew as far the eye could see and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Furthermore, Six saw no bodies, no crosses, not even a single fire or ruined building for miles; this didn't feel like an issue, it felt like a godforsaken paradise!

Though he felt at peace, Courier Six knew better than to exit out of his power armor freely; Hoover Dam proved that point the hard way, as did the loss of one of his companions; a former NCR sniper by the name of Boone, another story for another day though. Six was feeling ready to retire at this point, picturing a house right in the middle of the meadow, right where the four children were picnicking...four children?

Yes, four children; equal parts terrified and mesmerized by his appearance, these poor kids look like they saw the end of the world flash in front of their eyes, Six was frozen in place, he sucked with kids, like when he tried sitting in for several parents over at Nellis AFB...he never wanted to juggle live munitions ever again after that incident, the kids survived of course, but the old hanger that was converted into a school didn't.

Six observed them, there were four kids and a yellow oversized mouse. Six was tired, he honestly just wanted to sleep at this point, this was beyond awkward even for him, the champion of New Vegas.

The children seemed to be in their teens except for one; one was a raven-haired boy with a bright blue vest and blue pants, another was a blonde girl who apparently had pre-war fashion sense a la France, another was a boy wearing glasses whose hair would classify as golden blonde, his attire was a simple blue jumpsuit, maybe he was a vault dweller? Of course, and Six was Christ Resurrected. Finally, there was the small one, same hair as jumpsuit, so that could mean brother and sister. The air was thick and Six stood tall among the group, easily twice the height of Raven hair.

Finally, the smallest one spoke. "Are you a pokemon?"

Six was confused, what a poker mon? Did she mean a Poke Man? Point Man? He didn't have a clue, they could tell instantly how confused the poor guy was, and so Raven hair brought out what looked to be a red handheld Pip-Boy, out of it sputtered the sentence. "No pokemon data available."

Six figured a pokemon was a creature of some sort, so he picked up the armored squirrel at his side and presented it to the young mans Pip-Boy.

" Chespin, the Spiny Nut Pokémon. Chespin can flex the soft spikes on its head, making them so stiff and sharp that it can even pierce through stone."

So this thing could possibly punch through his armor? The thought alone terrified Six to no end, thud with a soft grunt he put the creature known as Chespin down, and backed away slowly, with this "Chespin" following along.

A few seconds later French Avant-Garde Girl spoke up. "Are you okay? You haven't said a word, you're more than welcome to join if you want." Six merely grunted and then spoke through his helmet. "Sort of thirsty, have any Nuka-Cola?"

Jumpsuit spoke next. "We have water, will that suffice?" The armored wanderer was more than happy to get fresh water, nodding gently to confirm his acceptance, Six took the helmet off, and it seemed as though he would not only drink the water, but devour the bottle it came in.

In the process of finishing the bottle, raven hair soon inquired as to where Six came from; for the first time in a long time, he felt fear creep into his chest, these kids would get slaughtered at the complex, they seem naturally curious, and curiosity usually leads to a violent death, before he could offer an answer however, a noise rang out from the sky, an aircraft with the symbol of a flame came into view, the very same symbol that was on the drone.


	4. I Walk The Line

_"_ _And we're back. This is Mr. New Vegas, and I feel something magic in the air tonight, and I'm not just talking about the gamma radiation_ _."_

 _Mr. New Vegas_ ; Radio Host Extraordinaire

* * *

Six was evidently worried, he knew aircraft flying low to the ground was a definite sign of trouble; he had heard of the once-legendary Vertibird squadrons out towards where Navarro once was after all. hell he even fought alongside one. This was different though, there was one helicopter and only one, either they thought the Big MT was going to be a pushover, or they didn't come as prepared as they'd like to; either way, they were going to meet the business end of a minigun, spinning at 60,000 rounds a minute.

The four kids were surprised to see Six take off at a breakneck speed, no doubt heading towards the helicopter that was preparing to land. the children quickened their pace and were able to catch up to Six, pausing in shock as they saw the last thing many a raider, fiend and legionnaire had seen in their life, a very angry courier armed to the teeth.

Six WAS angry, no, anger isn't right, he was furious, these suit-wearing grunts reminded him of the security from The Tops, he hated that place with a passion and hated the management even more, he also disliked annoying gangsters that tried to steal from the very same facility he swore to protect, of course he had the element of surprise as he figured that they thought he was simply a wandering warrior or something of the like, stopping by at the barrier, Six noticed it was disabled, this wasn't good as Six knew that nothing harmless or good could come out of whatever these goons would want; raiders always tried to enter the Big MT to steal weapons or armor, and always ended with the same result.

Six reached the lower right corner of the complex and found the poor fools trying to rip apart the doors to a bunker, he almost felt sorry for them...almost. Six prepped his targeting system on his armor to predict the movements of the goons.

One of the goons saw him and screamed almost like a child facing a super mutant, to say the grunts were terrified is an understatement as they couldn't even grip their pokeballs properly, only letting them open as they hit the ground, one of the balls opened, revealing something akin to a radscorpion with just two giant eyes, as equally terrified as its trainer...evolution played one hell of a role here as Six could tell, but it didn't matter to him, his minigun was hungry and dinner was served. Switching on the gyro-motors and lifting up the frame, Six prepared to fire, but just as soon as the first bullet was coming out, something struck his leg, a shock of electricity had incapacitated him!

Looking over to his rear, the Courier saw the oversized mouse and its owner, they disabled his minigun as he was prepared to exact his righteous anger on everything in his radius, looking up to the raven haired child that was armed with a mouse and brave, foolhardy look in his eye. Six was annoyed, and he was going to let it be known.

"What do you think you're doing? Don't get in the way!"

The boy stood as tall as he could, the grunts behind the tank man were shaking, afraid that this would be their final mission. "You can't kill them, we follow an anti-violence law against other humans; they may be bad guys, but they live lives and have families too."

This struck a chord in Six, anti-violence laws? Definitely a far cry from the near lawless Mojave. Six felt conflicted about the law in place , nonetheless, the grunts already feared him by mere presence alone, maybe he could figure out what they wanted. They seemed like the biggest pansies on the continent. Caesar would've had a field day with these people, the boy stood in front of him, armed with several of those capture ball things.

"I'm asking you once and only once before I let out the team, what are you doing here? And what do you want with this place?"

One of the grunts finally regained their composure, still shaking but able to speak. "Orders from Lysandre kid, we brought some sort laboratory complex from another timeline, but that thing is standing in our way, so let us pass or else!"

The whole scene reminded Six of a comedy, if these were the bad guys in this realm, then even The Misfits could bring these idiots down with no problems. Six started to laugh, first it was just a chuckle that soon turned into full-blown laughter, these people would get slaughtered out in the Mojave for god's sake, and here they were trying to steal from one of the most protected places in the West!

Everybody was confused, until Six spoke up. "You are the biggest set of idiots I've ever met, you're surrendering to a kid and you can't even attack the Big Empty properly. Do you even know where you landed? Look around you, you landed right in the middle of the artillery range!"

That's right, Team Flare landed right in the range of several high-calibre howitzers, and Six knew he could gamble his way out of this, he had all the right cards in place and the poker face to seal the deal. "Y'know. I got no qualms about firing on you from here. I'm well protected you see, so either you leave now, or I make sure you and your pretty little verti get grounded into dust, are we clear?"

Both Team Flare and the kids were shocked that he would go as far as to take Team Flare out at the expense of the children, this man had to have either gone mad or he was an extremely evil monster, at this, one of them spoke in a near-quiver. "What about the kids?"

Six merely laughed it off "You mean the cannon fodder? We have bundles like them waiting in the warehouses, now get off the complex or I paint the ground red." They weren't prepared to die anytime soon, forget the paychecks! Team Flare acknowledged his request, retreating to their aircraft, and conducting a "tactical movement to the other direction". Six was finally rid of the morons, now he had another problem. The kids were obviously upset, and he was hoping to set things right.

The kids no longer saw the armored hulk as a benevolent being, rather they saw him as someone even more vile than Lysandre or even Team Rocket! Six prepared to explain himself, the man had a bigger heart (metaphorically speaking of course) than people gave him credit for, he supposed it was time to drop the tough brotherhood knight act he was used to throwing around.

"Don't worry, the cannons are operated manually, the only way to use them is by a console based at the site. And to think I was going to have to waste ammo on them?" The children visibly calmed down after that. Six was slightly amused by all that transpired, he figured he could point his finger at the fashionably dressed Team Flare and they would still be afraid of him. With his explanation through, the wanderer took to introducing himself. "Six, Courier, either one is what I go by, if you want to be formal then Courier Six is formal enough, apologies for having to use you as fake bait." The kids easily shook it off, seems things turned out better than Six initially thought.

Jumpsuit soon spoke up. "What exactly are you wearing? It looks like something the military would make, maybe not Kalos, but something like Kanto or even Johto (Remember those theories? Of course ya do).

Six seemed intrigued, there was a military presence here? He'd have something more than just gangsters in old war mafioso suits to worry about then, shaking his head left and right, he declared it was armor of a lost nation, yeah, let's keep simple, Six was sure telling kids about how his planet was engulfed by the fires of nearly 20,000 estimated nukes would ruin any chance of an optimistic outlook on life at that point. With that in mind, our wanderer walked north towards the Think Tank, he needed to clear some issues up

Six decided to converse on his slow-moving walk, hell, even the short one was bouncing circles around him, before he could speak, however, Courier SIx took notice of the lack of radiation in the area; X-7B, for instance, had several craters with radiation, or rather it used to, they were empty now, ironically bursting with beautiful flowers. Six pulled a quick Pip-Boy check, it clocked nothing; there was little, if any at all, evidence of nuclear usage in this realm

...

...

That meant no chance of nuclear war, that meant that these people were living lives without worrying about dying the next day. This truly was paradise to Six, he was considering retirement after the battle for the dam but people needed a hero, and who better than the brave courier who took a shot to the head and came back to dish out some damage? He felt that if he was here permanently then he might just retire, he might make a good cattle rancher even, helping Lily with the bighorners time from time was honest work, and it calmed him to no end.

Walking past old military vehicles that made the scenery now oddly serene, Six regained his thoughts and stopped for a moment; he knew the children had some burning questions and they were persistent enough to follow along without even acknowledging that he was most likely the most dangerous being in the land, with that notion in hand, our courier turned around and looked to see the children following relatively close, along with the "Chespin" trying its hardest to keep up; as it struggled, Six offered a spot on his left shoulder plate. Chespin happily accepted the offer, and was hefted onto the metal plate with little effort.

Avant-Garde spoke up first. "I suppose we should thank you for getting rid of Team Flare so easily." Really? That's all they came along for? One can only imagine how far they would travel just to tell someone that they had an amazing meal on a discount.

"Why would you want to thank me? I'm just doing my job. I protect the lab and the secrets and it gives me things to test in the field in return." This wasn't particularly a lie, the brains figured that they had such limited space in the crater, they should let their friendly neighborhood lobotomite handle some of the "riskier" weapons and experiments, needless to say it's a rather successful partnership.

Jumpsuit spoke up next. "You didn't fight them though, you tricked them into leaving, unfortunately we could tell it isn't exactly your way of getting rid of people. I'm honestly worried that you may have hurt people before."

Six held in a sigh, he alone accounted for the destruction of the Legion, along with the fiends and even two of the biggest merchant groups in the Vegas area, to say he hurt people is an understatement. Six destroyed an empire and beat a Deathclaw alpha female with nothing but a power fist, of course Raul was there and so was ED-E, but no matter; Six was sure the kids wouldn't want to hear him speak about these incidents, with that said and done, he went off topic, and for good reason, he didn't even know them.

"What exactly are your names? Want to thank you properly for stopping me from causing a bloodbath."

Raven-hair went first, presenting his giant yellow mouse in turn. "I'm Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, this is my buddy Pikachu and I'm on an adventure to be a Pokemon Master!" This kid has spirit, Six would give him that, unbelievably naive but extremely confident. Jumpsuit was next.

"I'm Clemont and this is my sister Bonnie, we're traveling along with Ash. I'm also a very experienced inventor. I build for every occasion. I even had something built to fight something similar to you in case of the worst case scenario, neat right?" Oh this kid would have a field day with ED-E, hell, Six was sure this kid would take apart a Vertibird just to see the components... this kid was smarter than he let on, he just has that look in his eye, Six also didn't like that the kid had countermeasures in place.

"Clemont! The only things that you build always blow up when you least expect it, besides, you need to spend less time inventing and more time looking for a woman! I won't be around forever you know." Wait, what was happening? Was she his sister or his mother? Well, nevermind that, now it was Avant-Garde's turn.

"Don't mind them. I'm Serena, pokemon trainer and also professional performer. I'd be more than happy to introduce you to Braixen, she's been with me since day one." Six nodded in understanding, a performer, a rare vocation in the Mojave, though he figured that she probably wasn't the kind of performer that would sing a country song or two.

Six pushed the thoughts out of his mind, he needed to figure out how get the complex back home. For all he knew, the presence alone could account for a substantial loss of habitat, he didn't worry about what was hidden in the labs though as wiping out the nightstalkers last year along with the neutralization of the last threatening lobotomites provided the brains and himself with the ability to freely roam the comlex with little danger; all that really remained were a small number of dormant cazadors and a good sized amount of tamed cyber-dogs. Six figured it was best to talk to Dala immediately, she knew the subject of living things and ecosystems better than anyone he could think of.

"I'll be right back, wait for me at the front door of the dome, don't leave the area under any circumstances, understoo- yes?"

Bonnie had her hand raised. "What if we need to use the bathroom?" These kids were going to kill him with their problems, he knew they were above using bushes, so he gave them access to The Sink, then sauntered off into the Think Tank before remembering that the personality matrices were still on...

* * *

Entering the area known as "The Sink", the Pokecrew decided upon releasing all their pokemon. As it was, the central computer detected them. "You're not our master, identify yourselves or face the wraith of our resident Securitron! Muggy, get over here, we're being attacked!" A voice on the wall declared that he was preparing to attack with non-seditious materials as the Biological Research Station tried to hit on the water faucet. Ash was confused as he never heard a computer talk to him before. "Me? Uhm, wanna help me out here Clemont?"

Jumpsuit literally dashed to the central appliance, no doubt amazed by the advanced technologies it held. "Can you tell me what you are? Are you an AI? Do you have the ability to learn? Please reveal your secrets to us oh mechanical wonder!"

The Sink was silent, then calmly explained itself, how it was simply a personality matrix built on an equally simple circuit board, as were the other appliances, save for the toaster; that thing was dunked into a bath of cold water.

Serena wandered off inexplicably into the bedroom and came face to face with Muggy. "Hey! Got any cups?" Serena paused, who said that? "Down here lady!" Serena looked down and noticed a little robot wobbling on one wheel. "Look blondie, you got any cups? I'm begging you. I haven't had a cup in over an hour!"

Serena was speechless, she didn't know what a robot could want with a cup and she didn't really want to find out either. "Sorry, don't have any, hehe."

'Of course ya don't, none for ol' Muggy anyway, go along then. I'll find one on my own." Serena felt it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Inside the tank, Six was talking to the brains about the repercussions that their presence could have here. Dr. Dala enlightened the courier on the matter, saying that they had landed somewhere in a sparsely populated area of the forest, it was highly unlikely anything was here before the complex arrived, otherwise there would be some form of debris, of which there was none, plus there would be some very angry native creatures. Dala also took the chance to inspect the little being known as Chespin that Six brought along, with her inspection, she brought up some interesting statistics.

'It appears to be male, adolescent, it has brain functions similar to that of a normal child, I can only expect it to grow in size and increase in intelligence."

"So you're saying this creature can comprehend me? And not just simple things I'm guessing."

An unknown voice soon rang out in the tank, the boy known as Clemont, of course, it HAD to be this kid.

"You're right ma'am, Pokemon and Humans can understand each others feelings and emotions, in fact, we've even started introducing a translator!"

"A translator you say? You wouldn't happen to have one on hand would you?"

"Unfortunately not, they're expensive to make and even more so to afford."

This gave Six an idea. "8, you built the soundwave reflector on the dome right?" To this, 8 gave a chirp and beep. "Then would it be possible to build a translator that would decipher a vocal wave from a...Pokemon right?" Clemont nodded. "A Pokemon?"

8 stated that it would be impossible for him, he had sampled many vocal frequencies from the various creatures in the forest, he definitely had the materials, but the knowledge of building something of this sort was impossible for him to fathom, only the experts in this land could understand the science behind it, considering that they would have to program all the vocal patterns, frequencies and miscellaneous variables into such a device and there must be hundreds, if not thousands of differing species on the planet.

"What a shame, we could use something like it, besides, it's weird how they keep saying their name over and over again, no offense little guy." Chespin seemed to shake it off, not taking it personally, and so with that, Six bid the brains a good day, and proceeded into The Sink, it was almost evening, he figured he should offer to let the children stay in The Sink for tonight, and he also gambled on the thought that some sort of change was coming. Six knew something was bound to happen.

Something always does.

Right?

Six also wondered, how did Jumpsuit get into the Tank?


	5. Lone Star

_Shadow- I plan on adding pokemon as I go, as Courier Six really has no clue what a pokemon trainer is, he might have a small team of three or four. As for legendaries, meetings will come up as the plot thickens, but there won't be any captures. as for Flare, I think in the game it was either Xerneas or Yveltal, depending on your version. But since we're going the anime route, it'll be Zygarde_

 _My fanfictions, let me show you them!_

* * *

 _"My conquest of the Mojave will be a glorious triumph, marking the transition of the Legion from a basically nomadic tribe to a genuine empire. Just as my namesake campaigned in Gaul before he crossed the Rubicon, so have I campaigned, and will cross the Colorado."_

 _Caesar: Former Leader of the Legion_

* * *

Dateline: Mid-afternoon.

Location: Lysandre Labs

* * *

We see a tall red-haired figure approach a computer monitor in an otherwise empty room, save for a desk and chair, the room has the emblem of a solid red flame segment bolted onto the wall behind the desk, no doubt to make a statement of the rooms only occupant. Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare and hopeful heir to a new world, right now though, he was listening to a team of grunts discuss their near-death experience at the hands of a new menace.

"He was taller than the heli-blades! He seemed like he could just rip one off and slice us with it."

"He threatened to fire at us with artillery pieces, even with the children nearby!" Lysandre froze at that comment, sure he was a criminal mastermind, but he wasn't cruel enough to put children on the line at a whim, he was never prepared to go that low. Lysandre accepted a challenge against this foe, he then held his holo-caster in his hand, using a finger. he diverted his assault team to an outpost to rest until their next mission.

"Recruits! You did all that you could, we never expected the facility to have defenses in place, especially the kind that you are describing, return to the marked location on your caster. I'll contact you immediately when you're needed." All of the members nodded.

"Yes, Sir Lysandre!" With that, they signed off, and Lysnadre let out an extremely audible sigh. "It appears that my plans have become that much more difficult to accomplish, looking at the images they sent me, you appear to be more than just a wandering loner, so just who are you I wonder?" Sitting back into his rather comfortable desk chair, he prepared himself once more to find a way into the base, he knew that this figure had to get tired at some point, he considered using some of the technology from the once-powerful Team Galactic, but this being could simply brush that off and destroy it too.

The drone he ordered to be built by his scientists was what he expected, a prototype to gauge the possibility of teleportation, what he didn't expect was bringing not only the central lab, but the entire complex to his backyard. Up until that point, he made preparations for a broadcast to the region after the complex's capture, a shame it would have to be withheld until the scatterbug on his shoulder was rid of.

* * *

Dateline: Evening

Location: The Dome

* * *

Inside the Tank, the brains were in a frenzy. Borous had already made several advances in Pokemon Evolution that professors the likes of Sycamore could only dream of, weapons schematics were replaced by pictures of cells, data sheets on nuclear weapons? Replaced by the ratios of species.

Six was amazed by the ease of which the scientific brains could switch thoughts, contact with Mobius confirmed that the zone's barrier was once again secure, and the cyber-dogs were put on a maintained patrol schedule thanks to Klein.

Speaking to the children in the Sink, Six offered that they were able to stay for the night, to which they all agreed. When they asked where Six was staying, he told them he always preferred the outdoors, stepping out, he could clearly see stars that would normally be blotted out from the intense lights of the Vegas Strip.

Six felt at peace, this was a different kind of peace, an aura of calm and joy washed over him, so enthralled was Six by this wave of freedom and genuine contentment, that he didn't even recognize the voice coming up behind him, a voice of a long-known friend.

"I had a feeling you would be outside, some things never change do they Courier?" It was Six's one-time enemy turned close friend. Ulysses.

"Ulysses, it's been long, how has the Divide been?" "Quiet as ever, thought I would return to the old-world crater, the beginning of your journey through the old world, seems I got here at the right time." "There's always something up whenever you come around, so what's going on Ulysses?"

Ulysses knew the courier was going to catch up to him, in fact, he knew that Six was going to ask that question. "It appears you're smarter than I give you credit for, bravo Courier." Six was annoyed now. "Ches!" It seemed that the chespin was annoyed as well, more so than Six, and he didn't even know the duster-wearing former Frumentarius!

"Ah, so you found a new companion? Pray that he doesn't pass on as Boone did." Six acknowledged it, he knew the remark wasn't out of anger or spite, Six was careless in that moment, and he made peace with his mistake. Ulysses was just making sure that Six remembered. Ulysses continued. "I'm confident your new teammate won't expire under your leadership, the Dam was a bloodbath, we all know the news, it reaches out even to the Divide."

Six remembered fondly of his time working with The NCR, they may have been corrupt on the official level, but the nation, as a whole, stood for all that was good and just in the Mojave, they just needed a push, Six said forget that and gave them a full-scale shove, and man did it deliver.

"Ches? Ches spin spin chespin." It appeared the little guy was getting worried, at least that was what Six thought until he heard the rumbling of a stomach. "That's right, you haven't had anything all day have you?" Chespin shook his head. "I might have something, hold on. I'll be right back Ulysses, stay right there." With that, Six went back inside...not knowing what pokemon even eat.

* * *

Clemont and Serena had finished fixing dinner for everyone, the biological seeding station was creeping Serena out while she fixed the macarons, then the sink got involved, the two personalities began arguing about Salient Green or how dirty the pipes were...Serena couldn't handle it any longer and rushed outside to catch her breath, getting slammed by Six in the process.

"Jesus almighty, you ok kid? That couldn't have been an easy fall." Serena tried to brush it off, but felt a smooth bump on her forehead, naturally she poked it. "Ouch!" The courier didn't have medical supplies on hand...but he did have an Auto-Doc!

Six knocked on the cylindrical machine, soon waking it up.

"*YAWN* Hey buddy, watcha up for?"

"This girl rammed her head on my armor, looks like a bump, got anything to sooth the pain?"

"Got the perfect thing, some medical paste should do the trick, bring her in." Not even a minute later, Serena found that the bump was clearly gone and devoid of pain, as if by magic. "Thank you, you have no clue how long that would normally take."

"Not a problem ma'am, just doing my job, try to stay safe ok?"

Six remembered what he came into The Sink for. "Hey, what do Pokemon eat? They don't eat people food do they?" The children just laughed as Serena handed him some macarons, along with a spare bowl of pokechow, he also noticed a table set with varying degrees of utenstils, a bunsen burner, and several bowls for the pokemon...Where do they carry this stuff from? It's not like they have Pip-Boys..right? Right?

Six didn't bother with logic, he just thanked the trainers and went back outside, back to where Chespin was. "Miss me little guy? Sorry I took so long...where did Ulysses go?" Chespin didn't even notice his departure, the man disappeared like the ghost he was, even to this day, the guy still gives Six shivers every time they meet.

"Ah well, forget it, gotcha some chow, even a treat after the main course." Chespin put on a big smile, he liked this guy...Was it a guy? He was sure it was a guy at least, he heard plenty of other humans talk, this one had a voice rougher than any other he listened to though. "Ches!"

Six took that as a cheer, with that finished, Six took to fixing his own food, he figured he still had some brahmin steak left over, checking his Pip-Boy, he was right, and with him selecting it, a big piece of beef materialized into his hands, much to the shock of the Chespin of course, would this human try and make him dinner?

"Don't worry. I won't eat you, no offense buddy but you're a mite too small, even if you were bigger. I still have qualms about eating something as intelligent as I could be."

So this human wouldn't eat him? Good.

"You see. I go along the basis of this, if something can add two and two together, they're intelligent enough to contribute to society."

Chespin could count, no doubt about that, he was smarter than others gave him credit for, too smart for his own good probably, that may be why he was ousted from his pack, back to the perspective of Six though, we'll learn more on Chespin at a later date.

"So buddy, you seem to like sticking around, you'll probably want a name right?" Chespin nodded excitedly, he finally had an owner! "How about...William?" Chespin simply tilted his head, William..why William? "William was an old-world legend in my...region, a hero that claimed victory for the Kingdom of England over the invading hordes of neighboring France, it is said that because of his actions, England stood victorious, plus you seem rather brave from what I've seen of you."

Chespin was named after a highly respected figure from...wherever his human came from, the Pokemon was elated, bouncing and cheering, all for a name thought Six, but he remembered that a name is an identity, and without such a thing, you always feel empty. Chespin now had his identity. William, he held the name to his heart, and held it tightly as he fell asleep next to his new trainer on top of his newly unrolled sleeping bag.

* * *

It was now sunrise, the sun glowing a distinct orange hue, the sky glistening from it's radiant beams. Six was preparing to re-enter his armor, as he was down to a pair of cargo pants and a standard white shirt as of last night, he felt revitalized, he hadn't slept so good in a long time, no worries of attacks, no raiding parties passing through, it was a shame he couldn't sleep longer, it also appeared his little buddy was equally energized.

The kids were also waking up, having just finished breakfast, they prepared themselves to continue their adventure. Bonnie spoke up after helping Serena wash their dishes. "Hey, you think..what was his name...Six? Yeah, Six, do you think he might want to come along? He seems like one tough cookie, he could even keep Team Rocket off of us! " Serena responded soon after.

"I don't know, he said he protects this place, and it does seem like it needs protecting, Team Flare wanted it bad yesterday." There was no doubt that Lysandre's group would try a second attempt at claiming hold to the complex's secrets, and what better deterrent than an eight-foot tall mass of metal and firepower?

"I suppose you're right, so what are we going to do now? Ash has all eight badges and I'm ready to keep going!"

"The next challenge would be the Lumiose Conference, that isn't for another week I believe." Ash groaned impatiently at this, he figured that the team should get moving while they can.

Clemont, however, managed once more to sneak into the Think Tank, then tapped onto Borous's...frame?

"Ergh, lobotomite, why must you bother me at this ti-..."

"Excuse me, you must be Dr. Borous, correct?"

"How do you know of me? I never gave you my name!"

"I managed to hack into one of the-"

"You hacked into the system?! How did you manage that you squishy brained creature? There was supposed to be a military security system the likes of which would make the Pentagon jealous!" Was that an insult? Clemont wasn't sure. "I managed to access an unprotected mainframe in the other room, flipping through various records. I can tell that the sciences you study here are nothing short of amazing! You simply must offer your research to-"

"NEVER! Our research and studies go beyond that of simple medical examinations and checkups, we clone, we breed, we test in controlled environments! Or at least we did...But anyway, to share even the smallest glint of our knowledge would surge your people's progress to a new age!"

'Exactly, a new age filled with many wonders and advances in science...isn't that what this place was built for?"

Soon Dr. Klein interjected. "Of course it was, why else would anyone build a lab? Now I want to know. What your kind would do with the information should you lobotomites even recieve it?!"

"I hope that its delivered to researchers across Kalos, if they only knew what you did, there could a pokemon science revolution!" The brains stood silent, they remembered how dangerous science could be, looking back 200 years ago, they remembered that the cons sometimes outweighed the pros, they didn't want this world to end up the same way theirs did. now Mobius, who had been perched on the screen above, delivered his opinion on the matter.

"It's not that we don't believe you child, we simply don't think your kind is ready. I feel that the best we can offer is some simple advice. Tread lightly where your mind wanders, you may find that one day, it may wander no longer." The brains learned the hard way what mishandled knowledge could do, they weren't prepared to release theirs anytime soon.

"In that case. I'll prepare to leave."

"Not so fast, where exactly is this mainframe you spoke of?"

"Oh! It's underneath the talking sink." With that, Clemont soon took off.

"Talking...oh no, the lobotomite left the appliance personalities on."

* * *

Six was intrigued by the optimistic outlook these children held, as he saw the kids off at the western entrance and wished them a safe and smooth journey, he only wondered what HIS next step is. Six, the legendary hero of the Mojave, was now bored out of his mind, his brain definitely agreed.

"We could always play a poker game, but I assume that one of us would most likely call the other a cheater."

Six laughed a little, agreeing with his own brain, with that, he prepared himself to patrol along the fence, keeping wayward outsiders away, with the Chespin on his shoulder of course

"Ready to go Will?"

"Ches!"

With a silent nod, Six took off towards the southern corner to recalibrate the howitzers, not knowing that his personal guardian was watching from afar, one who knew that a chain of events would change two worlds, and this chain would start with a courier and a chespin.


	6. And The Thunder Rolled

Shadow- More than likely Six is going to learn more about pokemon trainers in later chapters, as for now, he only knows limited information on the creatures, as it stands, Big MT is relatively secure, at some point Six is also going to realize that the complex will be here much longer than he thinks, a new companion has been planned to arrive in a couple of chapters. The brains also have contingencies in place to protect Big MT, remember the larger radscorpion in waste disposal? Maybe this next time it'll be friendly.

* * *

" _The Ranger vets are on their way from Baja. I've never seen one before, but I heard they chew nails and spit napalm."_

A random conversation with an NCR Soldier

* * *

Dateline: Mid-Morning

Location: Lumiouse City

* * *

It's a beautiful day in the shining jewel of Kalos, children play in the city's many parks, humans and pokemon, both large and small, enjoy their everyday lives, for three specific figures, today was going to be their big break, they just knew it! They sat amongst a set of trees set off in the distance, away from peeping eyes, one was a female whose red hair defied logic and gravity, another was a man, quiet in complex thought, whose hair was a bluish voilet, then there was just a walking cat with a golden token on his head.

The cat starts talking in an accent that reminds one of a New Yorker. Manhattan perhaps. "So what do we do today? Pikachu hasn't been seen for a while you'se know." A female voice calmly responds. "Calm your fur Meowth, we aren't just here for Pikachu, the boss said that there was something big around here, Team Flare had a lot of radio chatter lately, and we're here to figure out what's what, we also need to investigate claims of their helicopter assault team finding something." A masculin, albeit slightly shushed, voice responds to her. "But Jessie, according to our intel, Team Flare's helicopter was reportedly seen flying towards the Pomace Mountains and then flew even faster going away. Something must've scared them off."

"Then it's up to us to figure out what scared those scaredy-skitties away!"

"Meowth...you're not really thinking of looking for whatever Team Flare found are you?"

Jesse intervened. "So what if we are James? Are you afraid?"

"Actually Jesse...I AM VERY AFRAID!"

This was the legendary Team Rocket...legendarily idiotic, spending close to five years trying to catch a mouse with little to no result, it's rumored that they might've caused Team Rocket to file bankruptcy as a legitimate enterprise, a claim that the CEO, one Giovanni, ruthlessly denies.

These three fools have travelled across most, if not all, the regions on the planet, all to kidnap a Pikachu...all to kidnap a mouse...from a child that always outsmarts them...let that sink in for a moment, and here they are trying to find what Team Flare was looking for.

'Hold on...Jesse, you see anything on our Dustoxicopter?"

"Let me see...activating system, blah blah blah, there we go...oh wow.."

What they saw was the same thing that Flare saw, a giant laboratory, housed in a circular barrier, and clearly well protected. It appeared to be around ten miles northeast of Geosenge Town, with a location tabbed on their holo-casters, they set off, no doubt to prepare for trouble...well Six was going to make it double for them.

* * *

Six was tired, so was his buddy, but the cannons were finally re-calibrated, the cyber-dogs were properly fed and loved, and the cazadors were monitored, Six suggested to the brains that "Custodian" should be added to his list of titles. Six checked the Pip-Boy, it was now five o' clock, close to dinnertime, and he was happy to learn that the Pokecrew left some pokechow and macarons behind, and even left a note.

"Feed your chespin three times a day, preferably when you eat, it builds a friendship guaranteed to last.

Signed: Your new friends, Ash, Clemont, Bonnie and Serena."

Well this brought a smile to Six's face, he was used to being rewarded, usually caps or a weapon, but to see a letter that they clearly put some time on, it melted his heart...metaphorically of course, he needed to stop using that metaphor, it made no sense for him.

Six felt that it was safe enough in The Sink to leave his power armor, he liked the enclosure of it, but he did need some air once in a while, he also needed to charge the damned thing! The fusion batteries were notorious for burning out rather quickly. Conducting all the measures to take the suit off, Six then took off the coating that protected him from the dangerous gears and servos inside his armor.

Looking at Six, he was much shorter than the eight feet of steel people were used to seeing, he stood at a height of around six-foot-six, still a respectable height, his build showed he wasn't much on exercise, but the equipment he always carried guaranteed a strong back and years of packing smartly meant he could carry more in less, Six felt it was time for a rest, with this is mind, his chespin followed.

* * *

While asleep, Six's mind dreamt back to one of the pivotal moments in the Mojave, the war of '81, the battle for Hoover Dam. Six was back where his best friend had died, failing to re-activate his armor just in time, due to a missile strike from a Legion weapons party, he was soon surrounded by several Legionnaires attempting to hack away at his armor, three stood there, one of them smirking a grin that he knew all too, they wanted to rip him apart...They never got the chance however, three were in front of him, then the next moment, three were dead, across the other side of the dam stood Boone, sitting atop one the towers, giving a simple nod that his deed was done and was ready to link up with Six, Six couldn't believe it, they were almost at the throes of the Legate's camp.

As Boone was known as one of the best snipers in the whole of the NCR, it should be no surprise that a lot of higher-ranked legionnaires wanted him dead, they all failed for the most part, what was surprising was the frumentarian the had snuck behind their newly covered lines, aiming for a kill, armed with only a spear and a machete.

Six was the first to speak, not knowing of the outcome that would happen upon his life. "Jesus Boone, are you sure you left the NCR for good? You're about as much of a crack shot as your namesake." Boone read on the history of his name, according to him, it fit rather well. "I think I prefer the beret over the fur of a dead animal, would be afraid I didn't skin it properly." Six had to laugh at his friends macabre sense of humor.

The laughter stopped when Six saw an object hit Boone's side, a spear, more than likely thrown by a member of Caesar's Legion, the power armor was almost ready, able to turn around, SIx saw one of Caesar's spies rip towards Boone with no regards for his personal safely. Boone tore the spear out, went for his combat knife, and engaged the spy in a short but bloody brawl, finally ending it with Boone's knife breaking into the side of a concrete barrier, the spy pinned Boone to the ground and mocked the former 1st Recon sharpshooter with the machete, making distinct slicing motions, as though he were planning on serving up Boone as an honor dish to Caesar.

"Your time ends here, prepare for a long death."

With Six's armor was finally re-activated, he stomped towards the Legion spy, and held a short brawl, with the spy carrying a trademark machete, Six opted for a super sledge, one aptly titled "Oh, Baby!". With sledge in tow, Six concocted a simple plan, knock the spy off the edge of the dam, much cleaner and he wouldn't have to worry about any traps, at least he that's what he thought.

Following this cycle, he proceeded to use his brute force to parry the legionnaire off the side, it was evident that the spy knew this, and Six soon figured out a problem...This spy had agility and quick tactical prowess he couldn't even hope to match.

It was a battle of two differing sides, one favored protection and firepower whilst the other preferred agility and smooth non-linear motions to survive. the legionnaire was first on the draw, drawing his machete, he crouch-jumped towards the left of Six, hiding near a concrete pillar, this was smashed down by Six, who promptly heard a small clang on his armor, the spy knew immediately that he couldn't win this, in an instant, he felt a sharp pain in his right kneecap, the battle sure turned out to be more anti-climatic than he thought, no duel to the death? Such a shame.

A shot had rang out, rifle round? No, it was pistol caliber, looking back, Six saw his best friend armed with a 9mm pistol. Six grabbed the spy, hung him over the dam, and began to talk. "So, legionnaire, here you stand at the throat of the Colorado River, quite the irony don't you agree? So tell us, anything dramatic you want to say to us?" The spy hung silently, looking down towards the concrete monument to men, if he going to die, he was taking someone with him.

"Only one, beast, only one. I pray to Mars that you may forever dine in the depths of the Styx." Six was confused, as was Boone, who was slowly closing in, that was, until they heard something drop, then saw a squarely shaped object of some sort, it was a plastic explosive! With this, Six immediately dropped the spy and tried to move to his friend, but it was all too late. the charge activated remotely.

The explosive charge stumbled Six, but he knew that Boone had to be in far worse shape, and his assumptions were correct, for Boone took quite a bit of the blast, with a mangled right arm, he knew Boone wouldn't shoot again.

Shit! Don't worry Boone, we'll find you a medic okay? You'll be fine." Boone knew this was a lie, he knew that he probably wouldn't make it, he took the brunt of the equivalent of 5 pounds of C4, it didn't help he felt a stabbing pain in his back.

"Here let me get you up, we're heading to an aid station." As soon as Boone felt the slightest motion, he let out out a shout. "Stop! something has me pinned, can you check it out for me?" Six nodded, taking a look at his back, it seemed that he was propelled into a stray piece of rebar, there was no way the wanderer could get Boone of this, even if he did, Boone would be paralyzed more than likely, going by medical experience, he determined that Boone mostly likely had a punctured lung, judging by his shallowness in breath, he figured the blast might have caused even more damage, but he couldn't be sure, the massive loss of blood confirmed one thing though.

Boone was dying, he wouldn't survive the battle, he stuck with the courier for most of this journey, from the Novac incident, all the way to meeting Mr. House, several other companions came along too, Raul was a respected member of the group, as was lily, but Boone was the one who was Six's second-in-command, and here he was, dying from a piece of the structure his country devoted so many lives to.

To Six, this was the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life, he knew Boone wouldn't want to live in such pain his entire life. "Six, you know what needs to be done." With those simple words, Six had garnered two things, his sidearm, and enough courage to prepare for the ultimate deed only a friend could do.

"See you on the other side Boone."

A silent shot rang out through the exterior of the dam, Six proceeded eastward, before whispering a silent prayer, the Mojave's Legend marched onward, towards the end of the war.

* * *

Six woke up in a cold sweat, jerking up, he startled William, who looked at the state his trainer was in, the man was clearly startled by something, a nightmare perhaps?

"Ches? Chespin ches." Six knew that William was worried about him, poor little guy, Six held him and sat him upon his lap, checking the time, it was now 6:30 in the evening, it seemed like an okay rest, but Six still felt haggard, was it because of the dream? It couldn't have been, it always came up every other week or so. What made it different this time?

"Ches!" Oh right, he forgot about the squirrel in his lap. "Don't worry, buddy. I just had a nightmare, it's the least I need to worry about." What did he mean? Nightmares were terrifying to him, he knew his trainer was tough, but he still felt that the wanderer wasn't being honest, he decided to worry about it later though.

"You hungry bud? It's about dinnertime, after this I was going to go on a patrol to the northern labs. I have a good friend there, you'd like him."

A chance to meet some of his trainer's friends? Williams eyes glowed abright with happiness, all over meeting Mobius, Six thought, but William was still a child, at least, according to Dala and confirmed by Borous of course.

After dinner was finished for both of them, Six settled back into his armor coating and then back into his power armor, with a chespin at his side, he oddly felt at peace with himself, there probably won't be a need for the minigun today.

Leaving the weapon on the workbench, Six set off empty handed, something that would get you killed in the Mojave, Gah, who cares? Six thought, the cyber-dogs were on routine patrols, he felt there wasn't anything to worry about.

* * *

Dateline: Zero-Dark Thirty

Location: The Forests between Geosenge Town and Shalour City

* * *

Traveling in disguise somehow works wonders for Team Rocket, all throughout their career they had been everything, rock stars to performers, cafeteria workers to beautician, now if only they get organized criminal on that list, they would be set.

For now though, they figured a disguise would work, a young man with his grandmother? Solid gold, the pet meowth act would hopefully seal the deal.

"Jesse, are you sure this'll work? What if nobody's there?"

"Then we'll just ditch the costumes and find our way inside, great work thinking on a Plan B James."

"But I-"

"Both of ya, quit yer yapping, we're nearin' da forest."

With their little argument done, the three has-beens enter the forest, unknowingly making a beeline right towards Big Mountain.


	7. Spurs That Jingle and Jangle

Dateline: Mid-afternoon

Location; Dr. Mobius' Lab

We see a brain monitoring several different graphs at a time, Mobius was hard at work trying determine the variables of building the perfect security system, the cyber-dogs were sufficient, but the need for security was starting to show, he detected the helicopter coming from the east but had no means to counter it. Mobius continued his work until he heard a door open, his door in fact, and in walked his good companion Six.

"Ah, Mr. Courier, how happy I am to see you, mentat?" Six takes a mentat pack, shortly after, the doctor lays his eyes...monitors? Upon the little armored squirrel pokemon. "Aren't you an adurable little che'spin? I've noticed several of your kind wandering through the forest, as though they're in a pack."

Chespin seemed shocked, how did this being even talk to him? Wait...Che'spin? Chespin seemed easier to pronounce, but Mobius seemed like the guy who liked to make everything difficult, so he went along with it.

"So Courier, what brings you to my humble lab? Questions? Riddles? Perhaps the keys to my extraordinarily modified flying roboscorpion with laser beams and fuzzy dice?"

"No doc we just wante-what was that last one?"

"Don't worry, don't worry. I'm not crazy enough to build such a thing, besides, why build one big thing for war when you can build a masterpiece of a peaceful design? A beautiful blueprint that details what Big Mountain is all about?"

"What are you getting at doc?"

"Bear with me Courier. I remembered that I have a task for you, no...nonono the entire Tank has a task for you. Go to the Think Tank, they'll tell you more." Six was confused, he just got here, and already he was being kicked out? Well stranger things have happened, with that, Six left the lab as quickly as he came.

Mobius leaves us with a final thought. "Maybe I can reactivate several of the roboscorpion brigades, hmm."

* * *

Jesse and James were tired, tired and hungry, they managed to find something important..a light blue fence with a very shocking personality as Jesse's hair found out the hard way.

James was first to speak. "One can only imagine how much of the boss's money will have to be used to buy Jesse's hairspray..." Meowth happily replied back.

"Probably enough to cause a depression in the Kanto Stock Market, heheheee-"

*Smack*

Meowth was now on his back, rearing in pain and close to screaming certain obscenities. Luckily for us, this is rated T, we don't have to deal with the details of Meowth's dilemma, pushing onward to the plot, Team Rocket was trying to figure out how to cross the fence, or at least they were, until a certain type of mechanically enhanced canine started barking at them, daring them to cross over.

"What exactly is that pokemon I wonder?" James nervously pulled out his company-loaned pokedex, with the phrase "NO DATA AVAILABLE" flashing across the screen.

"It's not in my dex, it must be from another region..."

Jesse soon burst up, her hair somehow back to normal. "If it's from another region, then surely it must be worth a fortune! Let's snag it up!"

Team Rocket then had another problem...they still needed to get across, with their combined sigh, the cyber-dog took to sitting down, she was going to enjoy this.

* * *

Six, in all his exhaustion, the chespin simply fell asleep on his helmet, finally entered the Think Tank, first going up to Zero.

"Ah the lobotomite, suppose we should begin the briefing, KLEIN! YOU'RE UP!" Good god, they had to be so loud?

Klein began his procession. "LOBOTOMITE. WE HAVE AN IMPORTANT TASK FOR YOU!" Glad to see he's as dramatic as ever. "UPON COUNSEL AMONGST OURSELVES, WE FEEL WE HAVE COME AT AN IMPASSE! BOROUS, IF YOU SO KINDLY WOULD EXPLAIN OUR ISSUE."

"Absolutely Klein, looking at our charts, we've discovered a transparency, our complex as a whole had been brought here, unfortunately, our radar systems did not arrive with us, therefore, we have no mapping data available, save for a 2.5 kilometre radius outside our complex."

Six fully understood the situation, the complex knew nothing of the world outside, save for the forests and the grassland edges, so what was he for?

"Therefore, we feel that a mission is in order, we request, to you, the lobotomite, to offer your services to Big Mountain in the form of an in-depth charting expedition.

...

...

"What exactly does that mean?"

"IT MEANS THAT YOU, LOBOTOMITE, WILL HAVE TO VENTURE OUT INTO THE DANGEROUS MEADOWED GRASSLANDS!"

Borous interrupted Klein. "He's correct, mostly, we've already measured up to 32 species of animals here, each with varying degrees of intelligence that suggests they may have closer interactions to humankind than we once thought. We're hiring you to map out the region, starting with the towns close by, one, towards the southwest, is relatively small."

"I feel like there's a catch.." There always was, and Zero prepared himself to tell Six.

"Well of course there is, we're scientists, not simple philosophists, we complicate things on purpose." There was no doubt about that.

"So what is the catch?"

Simple, judging from the air sensors and geiger radar, we've confirmed that there hasn't been a nuclear war in this place's life, therefore, we can only assume there has been little to no war among the populace, period."

"And?" Six starts to make a 'go on' motion with his hand.

"Hold your sensory glands. Basically, according to Dala and her humanology report, you'll need to leave your power armor behind. Along with any...large and foreboding weaponry, so as to not terrify the populace."

The brains must've gone mad, they were asking him to take off his only chance of survival in the Mojave? He knew he could trust them, but this was taking it a bit too far.

"Why would I need to do that?"

"Simply put, you'd blend in better, and besides, you may actually come across data we could use to further us getting out of here, not...that we'd actually want to lea-"

"Can you repeat that? I don't think I heard you correctly."

Dala soon came up. "He's right you know, we used to conduct science peacefully, ever since the great war, all we made were weapons, I'm sure you remember the nightstalkers."

Klein then interjected. "IT'S TRUE LOBOTOMITE, WE CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT WE'VE STUDIED ALL THERE WAS TO KNOW ABOUT THE WASTELAND!"

"So did you ever figure out how to get rid of radiation? That would really help you know."

Dala offered her side. "We tested so many times, but radiation required patience and time, the problem would persist even after we all turned to dust, besides, it would be good to conduct some newer experiments, preferably without all the pressure of the war."

Zero then remembered something. "You aren't going completely unarmed anyway, you have the little Che'spin with you, and you could possibly carry a sidearm if you feel the need to. I suggest a .357 or .44, something that sits solid and shoots equally so."

Six let out a sigh, he wondered if he could talk his way out of this, then remembered that his job was to protect the Big MT in any way possible, he should've known offensive reconnaissance would be on that list, nevertheless, he felt he had to agree, even he knew nothing about the land, maybe the locals were friendly?

"Fine, but how the hell am I going to transmit data to you? The Pip-Boy only ACCEPTS radio signals."

"I was hoping you would ask that lobotomite, behold, the future is now thanks to Zero!"

Opening a sealed glass safe, there was an object, revealed to be some sort of tablet like device.

"I'm not exactly the original designer, looking through security cameras. I noticed one of the children using a device similar to this one. I assume it's some sort of idenitifier for the varying species, our device, which I've aptly titled the Large Information Maintainence Application, or LIMA, connects onto your Pip-Boy via rewiring of internal circuits, here, let me install it now."

"So this thing is a mapping add-on?"

"Exactly, it connects via a long range telecommunications reciever, we've managed to hijack a simple low-orbit satellite that's been reprogrammed to recieve the data in bundles and also allow us to keep in contact with you, we would've sent a better satellite, but nothing gets more detailed than boots on the ground."

Zero had a point, besides, Six was starting to go stir crazy, maybe something different was good, maybe he could learn more about the region and the history behind it.

"Fine, you got yourselves a mapper, anything else?"

Borous offered some words. "That should do it, take today to gather some supplies and gear, we'll see you at the crack of dawn!"

With that said, Six took to the Sink, and prepared himself mentally for tomorrow's events

* * *

Three morons had been jogging across the entirety of Big Mountains electric fence, they couldn't find a single way to bypass it!

"Man, when do'se guys build a wall, d'ey build a wall."

James agreed. "Either they were really paranoid, or they have more than goods in there, they must have THE goods."

"Why not wait till later to give it another try? I heard Geosenge Town has a special at one of da restaurants!"

"But where's the money coming from?'

"Da trashcans usually have recently expired food, lets dig in!"

Jesse almost had to agree, they had walked all day, trying to figure out what exactly this place held, she agreed to a break in the closest town, and went towards the south, all while unknowingly being watched a camera on one of the fenceposts.

* * *

"HA! TAKE THAT YOU LOBOTOMITES, YOU WILL NEVER GET ACROSS THE FENCE, NOT WHILE KLEIN THE MAJESTIC IS AROUND!"

"Klein, did you forget to take the medical supplements? You're becoming a tyrant again." Zero was heard yelling.

"AM NOT!"

"What is capitalism?"

"THE CAUSE OF ALL HUMAN SUFFERI-OH GOD YOU'RE RIGHT."

Six heard the commotion all the way from the Sinks bedroom, only one thing left his mouth.

"Ha."

He fell asleep with the chespin by his side, silently, and sleepily, protecting his trainer.


	8. On The Road Again

As of right now, this is the end of Act I, in the case of this fiction, there will three acts in place, this was the introductory act, all the cards are set, and bets are placed, Act II is going to be a lot longer than Act I. Expect the second act to come up in several days. As it'll take around four or five chapters to start it off officially.

Shadow- The roboscorpion I talked about was the one at the waste disintegration platform,the one that was upside down, had to be about twice the size of the boss at X-42, on the note for Giovanni. I think he's still running the gym, not sure, trying to keep as close to the anime as possible though. On the topic of Enclave Armor. I didn't like it very well, it only had a fifth, I believe, of the hp that T-51B power armor had, plus I just like the look of the T-45D armor. Six is more of a big guns and explosives guy in my mind. As for Team Rocket thinking that the cyber-dogs were pokemon, do remember that we have a set of keys as a pokemon, can't forget the walking trash bag either.

* * *

 _"The Unity will bring about the master race. Master! Master! One able to survive, or even thrive, in the wasteland. As long as there are differences, we will tear ourselves apart fighting each other. We need one race. Race! Race! One goal. Goal! Goal! One people... to move forward to our destiny. Destiny."_

The Master; Shortly before his destruction

* * *

Dateline: Afternoon

Location: Lumiose City

* * *

Sitting in a restaurant somewhere in the middle of Lumiose City, Ash and friends converse amongst each other, they figured they should keep the secret of Big MT to themselves, for more than likely there would be many a treasure hunter trying to find the complex just on rumors alone, only to be faced with the wrath of a giant suit of armor, speaking of the armor. The kids honestly felt a mixture of different emotions about Six. Serena thought he was just a typical stand-up guy who wanted his peace, Ash, seeing how aggressive he was against Team Flare, felt like he was hiding something, his suspicions were shared by Clemont, who was brooding over what the glass-enclosed brains had told him. Just how far did they go in their pursuits? And what exactly made them brains inside robots in the first place? He was sure they were, at one point, as human as he was.

Bonnie, in all her youthful innocence, thought Six was just a big armored Ursaring, sure he may not have been the kindest or most caring person she met, but he offered them a place for the night at no charge, and his chespin that followed him was beyond adorable! Clemont finally came out of his thoughts, and directed himself towards the crew.

"Well guys, about five more days until the conference, any idea what we should do?" Serena interjected with an offer.

"Maybe we could visit Shalour City again, it's always great to see the tower, it never loses its beauty." Ash figured he could do something different, in fact, maybe they could get back together in time for the conference.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm wanting to continue my training, gotta stay in shape for the conference. I just know I'm gonna win if I train hard enough!"

'Hmmm." Clemont thought hard. "I got it, how about we all take a couple of days off. I'm sure Dad might need some work done, Clembot could also use a check-up, you three could do something together if you wanted."

Bonnie and Serena agreed to stick together and visit the Lumiose Plaza,, Ash was off to do...whatever it is that Ash's do. With their plans figured out, they each took to a different direction in Lumiose, agreeing to meet together at the end of the day.

* * *

Six, in all of his glorious...glory, had a problem with looking as friendly and non-violent as possible, as most of his gear was suited to fighting deathclaws or surviving full-scale assaults. Power armor here or combat armor there, how long has he had an armored vault suit sitting in the inventory? Checking his Pip-Boy, he was surprised to find something that didn't look as menacing as his power armor. With the click of a button, a pair of dusty blue jeans, a dark blue long sleeve shirt and a dark brown heavy leather jacket with two belts of ammo crossed together, it was his tried and true troublemaker outfit, doing him good service before his acquisition of power armor.

Figuring this was probably his best bet, he slid off the ammo belts, fixed up some the holes in the pants (Which were no doubt from Rex trying to play around) and added a hidden pistol holster that would fit comfortably underneath the jacket.

Thinking that his work was pretty much done, Six prepared his gear, looking at his various weapons and armor that were now sprawled across the bedroom, he knew he could only take several items with him, as Dr. Zero, in all his INFINITE wisdom, had somehow created a critical bug in Six's inventory management system, causing most, if not all, of his equipment to spill out onto the ground as soon as he switched off the system.

Muttering a few obscenities and finally gathering all the gear into a nearby storage trunk, our courier had finally figured out what he would bring along,

1: A revolver, something reliable and powerful at the same time, he knew he most likely wouldn't have anything more than one weapon at a time, so his seemingly magical jury-rigging powers were most likely out the question. Six figured he would bring along one of the many police revolvers he "borrowed" from Sierra Madre, ol' Dean Domino owed him that much, in his opinion at least.

2: Several cases of ammo, this was a hard contest between hollow points and the .38 Specials, Six knew instantly that Flare's minions most likely wore no, if any at all, contemporary armor, the hollow points would put holes in them for days. if that was the case, then a .38 Special would still do similar damage, even though they were less powerful rounds, he knew from experience that they also caused less stress on the mechanisms inside the revolver. At the end of the day, the .38 Special was chosen, and several dozen rounds were put into inventory management.

3: Food, plenty of it, our courier knew that he would have to rough it, as he had a feeling that caps weren't the customary currency in the region, so he settled on leaving his wasteland fortune in a drawer, he recited over a makeshift grocery list, several things of steak, plenty of cram, perhaps some sugar bombs...and plenty of Nuka-Cola, fresh water was important too of course. As was the pokechow, of course he figured he could simply carry that by piggyback.

Finishing the list and looking down to his partner, who was no doubt excited at finally leaving this crater, Six showed a small smile, and motioned for the squirrel to sit on his shoulder.

William was relatively agile for his appearance, though he appeared rather clumsy, opinions are only skin deep, the little guy easily jumped to the top of the nearby workbench, and closed the gap by jumping onto Six's right shoulder, from there, Six took to the door, bidding the appliances a farewell, and set off towards an exit, settling towards going towards the small town the brains were talking about, Six settled on going towars the southwestern direction, towards the city we all know as Geosenge Town.

* * *

Dateline: Afternoon

Location: Unknown

* * *

Our least favorite red-haired tyrant-to-be, one Lysandre of Lysandre Cafe fame, is making his presumably daily rounds, we see him walk past various containers, each with differing degrees of pokemon, setting his path towards a central command console with a figure over it. Lysandre proceeds closer, then finally speaks.

"Xerosic, how far along is our progress?" The unknown figure, now identified as Xerosic, one of Team Flare's most capable scientists, doesn't jump or hesitate, if he was nervous, we most likely couldn't tell. He speaks in a voice that honestly could grate cheese, this figure wears red goggles, and wears an equally red lab shirt and pants. Because red _**clearly**_ equates to evil. Right?

"Z2 is almost prepared, we just need more time to perfect the process of controlling it then a location to-"

"That's not what I'm not talking about...How far are we from accomplishing the goal of taking over the complex?"

Xerosic softly sighed, almost a dozen grunts could've died that day, he knew he would have trouble gathering volunteers for what would most presumably be a suicide mission.

"Sir, after the rumors, there's been a sharp decrease in volunteers for the operation, our only option would be to send in a combined grunt and admin team, that could take a significant amount of re-"

"Then send the order, that facility takes all priority over all else on the western coast, if it is indeed inhabited, then we'll send in reinforcements as our assault carries along. Understood?"

"I...Yes, Sir Lysandre."

"Good, carry along with the Z2 initiative, it must be ready in time for the Lumiose Conference as a testament of our power."

Xerosic only gave a silent nod, Lysandre was clearly obsessed with not only the laboratory complex, but the guardian of said complex as well, the last thing the scientist wanted was needless sacrifice, Team Flare was powerful, but they had little in the way of numerical superiority, that title belonged to Team Rocket. Speaking of the Rockets, it appeared the infamous Kanto gang, according to reported intelligence at least, had managed to sneak a few operatives into the Kalos Region, he made a note to inform Team Flare grunts and admins that they would have to be wary of strangers around their territory.

* * *

Six, finally reaching the southwestern edge of the complex, pulled out his sonic emitter and prepared to disable the fence, in an instant though, it turned off on its own. Six, naturally worried, contacted the Think Tank via the LIMA (It rhymes!), eventually coming into contact with Zero

"Eh, huh..oh hey it's the lobotomite! Don't just stand there, you're supposed to go through the fence, oh, right, suppose you're waiting for your new teammate, her name is Roxie, one of the Cazadores we've been training to act as a shock unit.

Six was losing it now. "You've been training Cazadores?! Are you insane? Have you finally cracked your enclosures!"

"Calm down, we swapped the brain with one from a cyber-dog, so far it's been successful, about as intelligent as that che'spin and in a twist of fate, according to Borous at least, all these animals on the other side of the fence can communicate interspecially!"

"So what's that mean?"

"Well, that means one species can communicate with another, it gave Borous inspiration to design translators, me and 8 naturally manufactured them, they're able to integrate inside the metallic housing structure where the brain is, mainly we built them for the guard dogs but it fits with your new cyber-cazador, Roxie, she's part of the first batch to successfully work in our new environment!" Cyber-cazador? Oh god why.

"Well, what choice do I ha- Did you say Roxie?"

"That's right, if I remember correctly, according to you at least, she was the dog that helped you through most of the X-8 complex."

Zero was right, Roxie was one of the more intelligent cyber-dogs of the Big MT, not immediately hostile to him compared to the other dogs, plus she and Rex had created a litter of cyber-pups, much to the disdain of Six of course, he always wondered where she went.

"What exactly made you put her brain into the body of a cazador?"

"Well, we figured that some of the dormant cazadores could be converted into guard units, we learned about the helicopter incident, Mobius told us and included real-time coverage, kudos on the artillery fake-out by the way. But all that aside, we figure we could use them as anti-air and short-range recon units, working alongside the companion cyber-dog."

At first, Six thought they lost their minds, but then figured that this probably was the best way to maintain security, it's not like Mobius would bring back that giant roboscorpion, not the one in the Workshop, but rather the one that he reportedly dumped at the "Waste Disintegration Platform", or as Six liked calling it "The Monument to Mobius", simply for the giant, upside-down, killer robotic scorpion, thankfully destroyed before his arrival.

As if on cue, a giant wasp-like monstrosity emerged from the north, no doubt this once the once-canine Roxie, now giant mutated Tarantula Hawk, also named Roxie, now happily rubbing her antennae against Six's face.

"Now now, good...girl? Do bugs even have genders?"

Roxie, still being as intelligent as she was, simply let out several buzzes, signaling that she probably didn't know or care, all she knew is that she was bored and was tired of the lab, in fact, she was more than happy to fly then just sit around and wait.

"Well...try saying something to William, Dr. 8 and Zero apparently built some sort of translator for animals, something about animals having better abilities to hear higher frequencies and stuff."

* * *

Switching over to the point of view of the Tarantula Hawk and William, they simply stare and each other, that is, until Roxie speaks.

"Hiya, confused yet? I know I am kiddo."

Roxie's voice in this viewpoint is similar to that of someone you might meet out west, clearly inheriting the accent of previous generations of Mojave inhabitants. William speaks next.

"I've been confused ever since I got here, so you used to be something else?"

"That's right, I clearly remember being one of those." Roxie points an antenna towards a nearby cyber-dog, clearly close to smiling at his former co-workers' supposed misery of being an entirely different animal now.

* * *

Switching back to Six, the courier now interjected. "So, understand each other properly?"

Both the cazador and chespin nodded.

"Then let's get going. I have a feeling things are only going to get stranger from here on out."

With a heavy sigh and a mind never to ask the Think Tank if they ever need any more assistance, Six took off towards a meadow in the southwest, though he isn't actually the first one out of Big MT, that title belongs to another companion of ours.

* * *

In the shadows of the forest lies a river, we see our old friend Ulysses stop for a drink, to him, fresh water was a prized commodity, even more so when it's cold, but here? He could drink to his hearts desire.

For the first time in years, he thought of his brethren in the Twisted Hairs, he thought of those lost, and those who survived, only to die at the dam, he wondered how many were left, and if there were none, then was he was the last?

His thoughts were cut short at the sounds of fighting, armed with Old Glory, his signature flag pole, he snuck through the thick brush of the forest, coming upon two animals engaged in the heat of battle.

One was a humanoid creature wearing something similar to a martial-artist's uniform, the red being was in fierce combat with another similar to it, this one being blue, and slightly taller to compensate for the red beings bulkier form.

Ulysses clearly saw that their forms had something to do with the way they both fought, as if on cue, they proved him correct. The blue figure was on a full-on approach with red, at the moment he threw his fist, red had grabbed it at the last second, surprising blue.

With blue in his grasp, red tightened his grip, and with gravity in motion, swung blue as though he were a ball on chain, swinging blue around the range of 180 degrees, red simply let go and let Newtons Law handle the rest for him, blue slammed into a small line of trees, shattering no more than three upon impact.

Upon regaining his bearings, blue was preparing to stand up, when a hand propped up front of him, in his gaze stood red, now with a quiet smirk on face, red was clearly the victor this time, but both knew that there was always room for practice, these two creatures are Sawk and Throh, two fighting type pokemon with vastly different styles of combat. accepting the gesture of kindness and respect, the blue pokemon now known as Sawk was helped up by the red pokemon, known as Throh.

Ulysses sensed an aura of friendship between these two, almost as though they were brothers, coming out of the brush, Ulysses calmly clapped. This action surprised both the pokemon, both of them initiating a combat stance.

"There is no need to worry, I aim not to capture you. I was merely observing, finding it inspirational of your ties."

The two pokemon were confused, inspirational how? Their tribes had an agreement of mutual defense towards each other as long as they remembered, at least until it was only the two of them left, they fought to make sure their skills were up to par, they made sure that a fight with any trainer would be one that was worthwhile.

"Iconic in the way you fight, one who prefers brute force while another prefers tactical motions, two clashes of different colors, the red and blue, mixing together not in anger, but rather friendship."

Sawk and Throh believed they understood the stranger, their tribes were different, but their worries were the same, protection and improvement.

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm here, at first. I was thirsty, a stream of clear water stood nearby, so I drunk, as I finished satisfying my thirst. I heard combat nearby, seeing you two, the colors of red and blue, it reminds me of my home."

Once again, this guy confused them, but nonetheless, he seemed wiser and smarter than most humans that came through Route 11.

"I suppose I've gone into too much detail. I've to assist a friend of mine, he enters a test of will and strength. I follow along his lonesome road, perhaps, you two would accompany me on this journey. For I can assure you, it is a task that one cannot handle alone."

The two pokemon spoke amongst themselves, having just met this human, first impressions showed him to be someone close to a wise monk, perhaps even story keeper, a field highly respected in tribal nature, a being of wisdom who commands respect from experience alone. To have such company instead of the typical child would surely be a given.

Both agreeing to accompany the former tribal, Ulysses sent a silent nod their way, as an offering to follow, both had a feeling that they would be a part of something large, how large was something they couldn't comprehend until it was faced.

* * *

Dateline: 2286, two weeks before D-Day

Location: The Mojave Wasteland, the 188 Trading Post, underneath the overpass.

Ulysses, wandering past the the halfway point towards Hoover Dam, was ushered by a child under the bridge, offering several caps to the child, he politely declined.

"Allow me to speak sir, for I have something of urgence to tell you, you who are Ulysses."

This child got his full attention now, few knew his name, and fewer knew him. Taking this as a sign to sit across from the child, the child, now revealed to be a psyker, spoke.

"Heed this message Ulysses of the Twisted Hairs, danger befalls the crater under the dust, in one fortnight, a land dominated by the realms of peace and nature will gain hold over the domed laboratory, the sixth courier, the hero of New Vegas, will take a critical role in a battle of vague understanding, you, he who guards the Divide, must follow alongside him."

To any normal person, this child would be insane, but psykers mostly, if not always, spoke the truth of future's to come, listening closely, he let the child continue.

"Fighting alone is not an option, you will accompanied by four whom you call allies, the red and blue that fight together, never separating, in a brotherly bond. Next, the darkness that guards the caves, waiting for the signal that it may be of use once more, this signal is a prosody, handled carefully by the annals of time, hidden away in similar shadows of what was once home. Still another burrows deep under the ground, ever nomadic in its travels, with the horn it was gifted with, it charges recklessly towards any danger."

Ulysses, in all this, wanted to know more. "Psyker child, what of the courier, what can you tell me about him?"

"There is nothing more I can say, any more revealed and the chains of fate would break, destroying the prophecy handed to me."

With nothing more to say, and nothing more said, the legend of the Divide carried on towards the laboratory under the dust, one he knew well, his next stop was Big Mountain.


	9. My notice, let me show it to you!

Attention anyone to whom it may concern: Quick notice off topic from the story, as the review board is rather empty save for three comments. I wold like to ask of those following along to offer up some suggestions.

As the story is maintained by one and only one person, there is no beta reader, therefore if any mistakes are noticed, please leave a review or notify me. I fix individual chapters around five times before I consider them ready to ship off, but I do miss small parts and typos are common at times.

Again, if you like the story, please be more than welcome to leave a review. It would give this guy the warm and fuzzy's to know what the favoriteers and followers think.

Happily noted; Lo and Behold.


	10. Break Between Acts: In The Mojave

Dateline: 2286

Location: Somewhere on the outskirts of New Vegas

* * *

The lights of New Vegas glimmer in the distance, following a road east, away from the city is a ghoul, wearing some sort of armored mechanics jumpsuit. This ghoul, wearing a tired but satisfied look on his face, just broke the bank on the strip, and he prepared himself to celebrate.

Walking towards his shack, with complementary corvega out front, not running of course, he decided that a bottle of whiskey then a good night's rest should should do him good, he was over 230 years old after all! He felt he deserved to enjoy himself.

This is Raul Tejada, a native of a small ranch near Mexico City and a close compatriot of Courier Six, Raul found it strange that he met the closest thing he could call a friend by way of escaping a nightkin-run radio station, but who's to say that stranger things may have happened? Finally opening to the creaking rusted door to his palace of solitude, our friendly neighborhood repair ghoul seated himself upon a chair, bottle of whiskey on hand and the radio set to Radio New Vegas, he then decided upon thoughts of the old days. Raul remembered one such incident that scared away around 50 years of his lifespan, the legendary deathclaw. Six thankfully made sure that the creature didn't live up to its name, ending the hunt rather anti-climatically with a fat man loaded with mini-nuke spreaders, speaking of Six, Raul could only guess what the former courier was up to now.

"I wonder how the ol' boss is doing...maybe I'll drop by Goodsprings and check up on him, think the chica with the giant death gauntlet might be along that way too." Referring to Veronica of Brotherhood fame of course. With his plans for tomorrow set in stone, our favorite Mojave ghoul took one final swig of whiskey, enough for him to prepare to go to sleep.

* * *

Somewhere upon the snowy crest of Mount Charleston, there sits a ski lodge, now used as a place of settlement for a group of super mutants and nightkin, one such nightkin is the apparently elderly Lily, despite her appearance, she acts as the same grandmotherly figure she was before she was dumped into the vats of Mariposa, the memories of two children come up now and again in her mind for some reason, but she still remembers to follow the couriers instructions to take full-dosage of her medicine, content with taking care of the bighorners, she noticed that it had already been several months since she saw her dear friend, Lily had half a mind to request from Marcus, the leader of Jacobstown, for her to visit the town of Goodsprings, but then remembered how terrified people were of her, even to this day, silently agreeing that she most likely shouldn't leave Jacobstown until the courier returns, she returned to tending the bighorners.

"Maybe I'll bake the dear some cupcakes, there has to be a package of 200 year-old batter somewhere, right?" Taking it upon herself, Lily finally decided that cupcakes were out of the question, but she did decide that a visit to another friend wouldn't hurt, old Raul Tejeda she believed was his name, besides she was about as human as he was when she thought about it, she decided to discuss it with Marcus tonight, visiting some old friends would surely guarantee a smile not just on her face, but the faces of them as well.

* * *

Somewhere along the Long 15 sat a radio post manned by the one and only Arcade Gannon, investigating claims of an unidentified flying object. According to various traders traveling along a newly established route passing Big Mountain that day, thanks part to the courier who established that no danger would come to those traveling past the giant mountain, there had been a severe dust storm several days ago, then a brilliant white light that blinded several caravaneers temporarily before hearing a loud siren-like screech. Gannon theorized this may have gone hand in hand with several ranches nearby reporting mysterious brahmin deaths, it's possible, in his mind at least, that the brahmin had died due to extremely high sonic frequencies in the air, an improvised airwave detection system making confirmation of his claims.

Gathering his equipment, and cleaning his glasses, the former Follower of The Apocalypse made plans to set off to Goodsprings, no doubt to question Six as to whether he had gone to the mountain as of late, perhaps tomorrow morning would be a good time to leave, he should arrive just in time to find Six fixing his specialty desert salad. Feeling content with his plans, he tidied his surroundings, and set off to sleep on a nearby cot.


	11. The Walk of Life

_Shadow- I've figured that one more human companion will be enough. They're coming up shortly. The Legendary Deathclaw, that one was over in Dead Wind Cavern, northeast of Nipton I believe, I really did kill it with a fat man. You think I'm going to let that thing anywhere near me?  
_

* * *

 _"I have to bring to your notice a terrifying reality: with the development of nuclear weapons. Man has acquired, for the first time in history, the technical means to destroy the whole of civilization in a single act."_

Joseph Rotblat; Polish physicist and the only man to leave the Manhattan Project under grounds of conscience

* * *

Dateline: Mid-Afternoon

Location: Somewhere near the edge of the Pomace Mountains, outside of Big Mountain

* * *

As we had last seen in the previous act, Six had been pushed by the Think Tank, Dr. Mobius included, to explore the outer edges of the complex, considering his direction, our courier pointed himself towards the southwest, venturing through a nearly endless clump of low-hanging trees, eventually coming upon the very same field he had met those children, looking around the fields of flowers and swaths of grassland, it differed little from several days ago.

"Guess nature really doesn't change does it? You know William, back where I come from, there's barely any green soil painted on the land, most of it is just basically brown dust or dirt. I'm surprised we can even grow food with the stuff."

This was the first time William had ever heard his trainer talk about his home, he knew when he first laid eyes on the man that the courier wasn't from around here, this human had rougher, more detailed features about him than these humans, plus his companion cazador looked nothing like the pokemon around here, it was almost alien in a sense.

"Well, let's check the thing that Zero gave us, according to what the brains told us, the radar range at the complex is limited to around... only a mile and half I think."

Checking the LIMA, Six was greeted with a map that showed the complex and surrounding area, mainly forest with small circular meadows, his location was a different one, towards the south stood a vast hilly grassland, signaling that more than likely the area had been cleared, taking this as an initiative to continue south, Six moved along at a brisk pace, unknowingly coming upon Route 11 in mere miles.

* * *

Walking close to the same path as the courier, our three favorite wannabe Rockets had gotten lost in the forest, mainly due to the pack of chespin that actively attacked them, the cat pokemon was first to speak.

"First it was da fence, now it's tiny adorable chespin with Arceus-complexes, do we ever get a break?" James, in all his optimism, was next.

"Don't worry Meowth, Geosenge Town is about 12 miles down the road, we'll be there in no time at all, we can dig in to our hearts delight!" Jesse, tired, hungry and overall annoyed at life, offered her two cents.

"I just want to leave this place, I knew it was a bad idea to come here in the first place.."

"But Jess, ya know that if we come back here better prepared, we could be loaded!" This came from Meowth of course. with James hesitantly agreeing.

"He might be right you know, we honestly rushed into this one, we need to concoct a plan, anything else from the dustoxicopter Jesse?"

"Not a thing, it just went silent a day ago, as though it completely vanished, it's almost too strange to be true." All three tried to think about what caused a perfectly operating drone to go dark, usually the drone would have a homing beacon...but that was disabled too. Meowth got bored and then decided to speak.

"Well, at least we know where da joint is, we'll just bust into it at a later time."

And so, with this is mind, they continued along the road, eventually coming across a rather odd figure, one who clearly wasn't from Kalos, Kanto, or anywhere else they could think of really, upon closer inspection, he appeared to be someone akin to an outlaw, wearing a sleeveless trench-coat with two fighting type pokemon by his side, so it was only natural that the Rocket Trio felt threatened by his presence, and with good reason, this man was a former Frumentarius, yep, it was Ulysses.

* * *

Looking around the route, no doubt embracing the the beauty it held, the former Legionnaire noticed a trio of supposed locals trying to sneak past him, no doubt because they were scared of him, soon he spoke up, alerting them that he indeed noticed their movements, and soon looked at them with surveying eyes, a clear sign that he knew they were a tad too suspicious in his mind, well, he needed some sort of direction, he had no clue where he was and these three might be able to put him on the right track.

"Pardon me. I'm not familiar with this land, I look for a cave of mirrors. If you would so kind, could you point me along the way?" He spoke in a deep baritone, surprising the trio to the point that they were slightly shaking at the knees. James spoke first, thankful that this man hopefully wasn't a Team Flare mercenary hunting for Rockets.

"Y-yes sir, keep following the road north, it-it's called the re-reflection c-c-cave." Pointing his finger towards the direction behind Ulysses as a signaling showing which way north was.

"Much obliged, now if you must excuse me. I've duties to attend to." With his words finished, he wandered off to the north, with Sawk and Throh following at mid-distance, after he was out of earshot, Jesse offered a whisper with a new idea.

"We could steal those two when he isn't looking, they could be an easy catch.' At that moment James retorted immediately.

"There's no way I'm going near that, he looked like he could tear us apart, and judging by his mannerism Jesse. I doubt he gives the anti-violence law any mind."

Meowth agreed with James. "He's right y'know, dis one has two tough pokemon at his side, plus da guy looked strong enough to take us three AND our pokemon on just by himself."

Mumbling to herself, Jesse found she had to agree, this was one of her plans that definitely would've gone terribly wrong, many of their operations may have hurt people, but that guy...he looked like he could kill and there wouldn't be a single thought weighing on his conscience.

"Alright, I suppose you're right. I kind of prefer living anyway, let's just hope we don't run into anymore trouble."

...You jinxed it Jesse, you jinxed it!

* * *

Walking amongst the flowers of various colors in the meadow, Six felt peaceful, if he really was stuck here, at least he was stuck in his own heaven on earth...would this count as an earth? Bah, who cares, he was happy, and the brains appeared to enjoy their new lease on life, maybe in the future their services could be offered to the public...Wait, where was he coming from thinking like this? Is Six, the man who killed Caesar with the blade of one of his personal praetorians, finally going soft from the all the pretty colors and calming aura? Stuck in thought, Six continued forward, eventually reaching a road. He'd bother with philosophical questions later, he was hungry and had no idea where he was.

Checking his Pip-Boy, it showed his position as being about 5 to 6 miles south of the complex, checking the time at around 1'ish, Six figured a small break would do his group some good, settling for a small hill next to the road, he offered some pokechow to William, who more than happily accepted the food placed in a bowl. For Roxie, he figured one of the brahmin steaks would satisfy her hunger, with a set of five steaks in a large sealed container to prevent them from becoming rotten, he opened the container, and placed one raw in front of her, one that she happily devoured. Six simply settled on a desert salad, a personal specialty of his.

While enjoying their individual meals, Six noticed three figures walking along the route, incidentally going the same direction he was preparing to go toward, feeling that it might be a good idea to be friendly with the locals, he figured he could offer some water to the travelers in exchange for some assistance.

Upon closer inspection of the three, two of whom were human whereas one was a cat, he could tell instantly they had a rough time at some point, with this in mind, he hollered out to them. "Hey, you three! You wouldn't happen to be thirsty by any chance would you?"

Team Rocket was surprised, here they were, dressed in their full white uniform, neither this person or the stranger from before seemed afraid or cautious of them. They decided that maybe some water will help them carry along. James decided to speak first, as they were getting closer to the figure.

"I suppose so, we've been wandering all night with barely a bite to eat."

To Team Rocket, this man seemed to have the same expression of an elderly townsman, kind features yet signs of fatigue clearly lined his face, though his outfit resembled that of a member of some motorcycle gang.

"Well take a seat, you look hungry too, even Roxie looks like she doesn't want a bit of you because of how stringy you look." Before they could ask who Roxie was, they came face to face with what they could only describe as an unholy terror that could only be classified as a prehistoric Venemoth, only much bluer and with wings that clearly showed it to be a tough fighter, these eyes that "Roxie" had looked terrifying to them, thus, the trio all agreed not to get on this guys bad side, seems no poke-napping was in order today.

'I've got several things of a custom-made trail mix, how about that?"

Meowth was curious about the beef by Six's side. "How about da meat? Who's dat for?'

"Ah, Roxie loves her food raw, lets her get more minerals that way, keeps her fuller, longer." With that, they sat and enjoyed an actual meal, no garbage or the like.

James was soon curious as to why this stranger had offered three bottles of water and three packs of food to three people he didn't even know.

"Well it's simple, you three are heading south right?" They nodded. 'And I'm guessing you know the area pretty well, right?" Another nod. "Well. I'm new here, and I need someone who could direct me to the closest town. I took a gamble that perhaps you could offer some help to an old-timer whose mind wanders sometimes."

Six wasn't bending the truth, he was a man in his early forties, the average lifespan of a citizen in the wasteland was cited as close to the mid-fifties or the even the early sixties, very few went beyond 70 and above, though there were quite a few that Six knew personally, one Chief Hanlon of the NCR Rangers and the members of the Remnants of Navarro for example.

Reaching a conclusion amongst themselves, in exchange for three more bottles of water, they would offer their help to assist Six in reaching the closest town, which was, in our case, Geosenge Town.

"Glad to hear it. I'll give the bottles to you after we reach the town center, agreed?"

All three of the trio agreed. Jesse started talking to the other rockets "Sounds good to us." Moving closer to James and Meowth, she offered up a solid point about their careers. "James, Meowth, prepare yourselves for another mark on our list."

James asked simply. "What would that be?"

"Tour Guides!"

"Didn't we add that one at some point already?"

"Nope!"

Six was ready and prepared to leave, waiting for the three strangers who offered to help out.

"So, Geosenge Town huh? Know anything about it Will?"

The chespin simply shook his head, he lived his whole life in the forest, and never ventured out this far before.

"Well, maybe we'll ask those three..whenever they're done talking." Both the cazador and chespin agreed.

* * *

Dateline: Close to evening

Location: Big Mountain's X-42 Robotics Workshop

* * *

Dr. Mobius was hard at work, he finally re-engineered the roboscorpions with an actual IFF sensor module, with the modules classifying variables of posture, adjustment of facial expressions towards the scorpion, and level of violence towards the scorpion. Mobius added Team Flare grunts and the helicopter to the list of things that would need to be scared away, injured at the most, as he believed that killing them would do no good, it might in fact bring more attention to the complex than it already needs, he didn't want anyone dying under his watch, the good doctor was lucky he even caught the three trespassers last night. barely just in time to lower the voltage before they touched the barrier shield, otherwise they would have been fried beyond identification.

Checking his some of his outermost security cameras, Mobius noticed that the translators built by 8 and Zero were working relatively well, he noticed several dogs actually conversing with the animals on the other side! Content with the results of the new location so far, he knew that the miracles of nature weren't limited to this one area, there would always be room to improve, and in his mind, the tank was already on the right track.

Mobius had noticed an anomaly shortly after investigating the southernmost edge, something had entered Big Mountain! That was impossible though, the complex, as a whole, was surrounded by fencing and electronics jamming equipment that had been placed in strategic locations to disrupt any drone activity close by, it may have been a bird of some sort, but it was noted that this creature was walking on the ground, the sensors confirmed the closest comparison would be that of a large elk, checking his security camera's, he set sights on the last location to identify the target; the X-22 Botanical Building to the east. Eventually reaching the camera feed, the good doctor came upon a majestic, albeit fuzzy, image, a set of antlers glowing a brilliant light in the shadowed darkness of a nearby glade of trees that had mysteriously propped up seemingly overnight, a light that one could compare only to the brightest of pre-war Vegas, the figure glowed a heavenly hue filled with various colors, a sign that this creature was clearly one of nature, the antlers mounted on it rivaled those of both the greatest of moose and the largest and proudest of stags. It was evident that this creature was definitely long-lived, Mobius knew that he had to tell Six about this encounter! In hopes of making contact at some point.

As quickly as this creature appeared however, it just as immediately vanished back into the darkness, no doubt making its egress towards the forest, Mobius had only one thought on his mind.

"Exactly what miracles exist beyond our scope of logic I wonder? Oh, my mentats are ready!"


	12. That Lucky Old Sun

" _Only the dead have seen the end of war."_

George Santayana

* * *

Traveling along the road known as Route 11, our wandering courier, not knowing that he was traveling with not one but three Team Rocket members, tried to take to conversation with the three Rockets, they seemed nervous about something, no doubt there was some worry over the giant tarantula hawk, but Roxie knew not to attack other people unless they were openly hostile, deciding on the right words to say. Six spoke up.

"I told you guys earlier, Roxie won't bite or sting, she's a big old bug puppy, just give her a pet on the head, you'll see she likes that."

Following his advice, James stepped up to the plate, patting the cazador on the head, Roxie confirmed that she liked this by giving a mixture of small buzzes and chirps.

"Well, what do you know, I guess it really is harmless, give a try Jess."

Jesse prepared to do the same, before she could however, all of the team heard a beeping noise, it was coming from Six's new Pip-Boy add-on, with a few presses of a button, Six had received a text document from the tank, informing him that they had intercepted another drone, this one mostly intact, it appeared to be disguised in the form of a purple moth-like creature, with green colored jets where wings would obviously be. So someone else was spying on the complex huh? Six was assured by the tank that they had strengthened the disruption fields due to this incident, there would little to no chance of a successful attempt on the lab.

Feeling content with the information he had received, Six switched off the system, and looked to his rear to see three puzzled faces. Jesse was first to speak.

"What exactly is that thing? I've never seen any Pokedex like that in Kalos." James also had to agree.

"I second that motion, you wouldn't mind explaining what that is would you?"

Well Christ on a unicycle...Six knew he had to figure something out, it was only a matter of time before he used the wrong ruse..wait, he remembered hearing about regions, he figured they might buy the story he was crafting in head, at least he hoped so.

"Why of course. I hail from a region out towards the west, far across the ocean. I've been hired by an organization to map out various other regions that we've only just recently discovered, this is a mapping module that also allows me to keep in touch with said organization."

Team Rocket seemed to buy it, at least for now anyway, happy that he was able to fool them, he continued towards the south, eventually reaching a halfway mark for Geosenge Town, he was curious about the area. Six was curious about anything of pre-war value, this might count...right?

'What exactly can you tell me about this 'Geosenge Town'?" Six making doubly sure to add air quotations.

James was more than happy to offer an explanation. "Well, it's a town long-known for its many odd rock formations, many believe they are burial markers for the dead, while others believe that they were a part of some ancient super-weapon. Geosenge Town, though, has recently famous due to the high probability of discovering an mega-evolution stone."

Six just had to ask. "What the hell's a mega-evolution stone?"

"They're stones that a trainer can use to supercharge their pokemon, in many cases, the mega-evolution is only successful if both the trainer and pokemon are in sync with each other."

"And exactly how many stones are there?"

"No one really knows, though there have been up to 46 reported stones discovered, they're really rare."

Six was intrigued, evolution, mega-evolution, this is Borous' dream come true, if Six managed to find something like this stone, he could only imagine the capabilities the Tank could unlock with it, almost immediately, Six was hungry for some more information, he was starting to find out some interesting facts.

"What can you tell me about the scientists here? If there are any."

Jesse, knowing quite a bit regarding the professors and the sciences here, offered to speak. "Professor Sycamore is the head pokemon researcher in Kalos, his study is based mainly on mega-evolution, he also handles handing out the starters to beginning trainers."

"Beginning trainers? Starter pokemon? Do tell."

Meowth was happy to explain to the obviously confused stranger. "Well, each region has its own set of starter pokemon, dis region has Chespin, like your little friend right dere', Fennekin and Froakie. In dat order its grass, fire and water respectively, see? And you can only pick one."

Six was intrigued, so his little buddy had control over the elements of nature? This place just got a lot more interesting.

Six was shaken out of his thoughts by James. "So what exactly is THAT pokemon?" Clearly pointing to the cazador by his side.

"It's a...cazador." Hell, it was simple and more than likely they had no clue what a cazador even was.

"A cazador huh...Native only to your region I suppose?"

"Yep, lives in high mountains and likes to eat whatever comes across its path, including unwary traveling humans."

"Interesting..it's rare for trainers from different regions to arrive with their companion pokemon."

Six was clearly trying to keep them away from Roxie, he knew something was off about these three, they more than likely could've been opportunistic bandits looking for a shot at the gold, he mentally made a note to himself to keep a close eye on them.

Checking his wrist, it was now close to 2 o'clock, he had been traveling for around six hours, stopping for a moment, he noticed a large building, it had a large circle as a sign, half of which was red at the top, and the other half solid white, a white button was in the middle with a black line going between the edges of red and white...

"What's this I wonder?...Hey, you three know what this thing is?"

Meowth looked at the courier nearly wide-eyed. "What, never seen a pokemon center before?"

"Pokemon center? I'm guessing its a place to heal the injured right?'

"Pretty much, man, for someone who looks as old as you, you sure a schmuck of a trainer."

'Trainer? What if I'm not a trainer at all you talking cat...thing. What then?" Man that comeback was so bad, even a deathclaw would facepalm. Roxie of course just shook her head in shame.

"First off. I'm a Meowth, second, if you aren't a trainer, den what are ya?" This cat just played mental chess, and he caught the courier in checkmate, damn this cat was persistent!

"I told you. I work for an organization that hired me to pull off a mapping survey, why should my responsibilities be any of your business?"

"Jeesh, you're about as weird as dat other guy we met."

"Other guy?" Six felt it was someone he most likely knew.

'Yeah, dis other guy, wearing a sleeveless trench coat, dreadlocked hair, real shady looking, y'know?" Oh Six definitely knew, for identity's sake though, he didn't know.

"Interesting, never seen anyone like that during my time here." A thought soon crossed Six's mind to change the topic of conversation. "You said this building assists trainers and their pokemen, correct?" The rockets nodded at his strange translation of pokemon. "Then would it be possible that this place acts as a hotel of sorts?"

James turn to talk was up. "That's right, a lot of centers offer free room and board up to a degree of time." Free housing for a limited time? Seems like a hell of a reward just for a career choice. James interrupted the thoughts of our courier.

"There's no need to go in though, we're almost towards town, about two miles to go I think, plus all your pokemon look relatively healthy."

"In that case, let's keep it moving." Six figured that he might try to find one of those stones they mentioned and make a quick fortune. Six simply stored the thought in his mind for now.

* * *

Walking towards the cave system famous for its many reflective mirrors, Ulysses knew this was the cave of which was from the prophecy, with Sawk and Throh closing the distance, they stood ever vigilant in their poses.

"Calm your stances, we search for something, something that hides within the darkness, follow close so as to not get lost."

Heeding the order, the two fighting types stuck close, continuing the walk forward.

Ulysses was cautious, he knew something was watching, whatever it was though was something he couldn't figure out. That is, until he came across another path, this one lined with mirrors, but smoothed rocks, someone clearly dug this out quite some time ago.

Feeling that this path was the one to travel, the former Legionnaire took the path immediately to his right, into the darkness that swallowed it almost instantly, Ulysses remembered that he had come across an old atomic powered torch in his travels, a symbol of old world fears of the darkness, now a necessary survival tool for many a wastelander. While it was considered dark, the natural crystals on the ceiling provided decent lighting.

Turning on the torch anyway, our former legionnaire was greeted with several entrances to differing rooms at the far end of the corridor, the hallway he was in able to fit two people going in different directions, continuing to walk forward, he saw one room immediately to his left that interested him, a small room with a shallow ceiling, housing a desk and old lantern, the lantern appeared to still work despite its age, beside the desk, hidden from unperceptive eyes, was hidden a journal, dusty and clearly worn, nonetheless, Ulysses found it an object of interest, and, along with turning the lantern on, decided to start with the first page.

' _Dearest Journal. Today I found an exceptional specimen of pokemon rarely seen in Kalos, this cavern system houses an exceedingly rare gengar inside its walls, one that is able to conduct a complex set of of mind tricks as well! There exists the rumours of another pokemon, gastly, conducting similar actions around Kanto's infamous Maidens Peak, if the rumours are indeed factual, then their evolutionary chain might be linked somehow, we'd just need to find the unknown middle evolution.'_

 _'Continuing my research. I've found there is a stone that naturally enhances a gengar's power. I've to wonder exactly how it's formed, on another subject. I've found that the gengar residing in this cave, whom I've taken to calling Boris, appears to enjoy the record player I brought along, he seems to love classical music, particularly those of classical ballads. I've stored several dozen records in my newly constructed bedroom as a result of this experience. I feel that it should be suitable for habitation soon, whilst my food stores are more than enough for one person such as myself.'_

Ulysses soon reached the last page, sprawled in scribbled handwriting _,_ signaling that something was wrong during the process.

' _I've unfortunately come into contact once again with a group of bandits, their leaders leave behind a trail of ruin no matter where they go, the ruffians! I fear they may have found this cave system. I only pray to Arceus that my soul rests easy, for I know they wouldn't spare one as trivial as a simple scientist. Should anyone find this, find Boris at any time possible, he heeds the call of the NO. 15 Shalourian Waltz.'_

The rest of the journal was empty, Ulysses felt he knew whom he was now searching for, he just needed to get it under his command, leaving the desk behind and turning off the lantern, he searched across the small cave system, eventually coming across another room farther down, something akin to a bedroom, the sight inside was sadly one many wouldn't want to set their eyes upon.

Blood splatter covered a section of the wall, dried by the element of time, thus signaling the unnamed residents struggle and subsequent demise, whispering an old legion prayer for the long-passed, Ulysses walk through the room, finding what he was looking for, an old record player, covered in decades worth of dust, sat upon an end table beside a poorly-made bed, the mattress all but gone, our former legionnaire took to looking for a shelf of some sort.

"Sawk! Sa-aw sa."

Looking towards his companion's direction, he saw Sawk pointing towards something, it was a shelf lined with vintage vinyl discs, left untidy since the fate of its owner, Ulysses set his eyes towards one particular record.

'The Number fifteen...Sha-lowerian Waltz. I've never heard much of classical music, I suppose everyone has their firsts."

Sawk and Throh merely nodded, as Ulysses inserted the record, he was confused for one of the first times in his life...how does one operate a device like this?

Ulysses soon discovered out that the handle on the side of the machine controlled the speed at which it was played, the needle above the record produced the sound that in turn became music.

The waltz that played was a beautiful orchestra, a serenade for the heart, a classical melody that hadn't been heard by a certain set of ears in decades, searching through the darkness, it came across three figures, one red and other blue, another was too covered in darkness to see.

Ulysses, he had to admit, was honestly taken aback by the arrival of a pair of red eyes at the doorway, they didn't appear evil or anything of the like, they looked more friendly and lonesome, as if they'd been isolated for much of their life, in the case of this creature, that was probably true.

"Are you the one from the journal, he who is named Boris?"

The eyes perked up, changing shape to show their surprise, Ulysses shined his light upon the creature, showing a shadowy purple figure with no discernible features save for a large mouth and the equally sized eyes.

"I go as Ulysses. I continue to walk a path, the same as the man that I follow, perhaps you would like to come along? I understand the pain and suffering of being alone, it's a feeling that none should have to feel. So I ask of you, would you wish to accompany us?" Ulysses knew the pain of losing friends, the man lost his entire tribe's identity to Caesar. Notably, this was evidently one of the few times he had ever shown anything close to emotion.

The Gengar named Boris didn't even need a second to answer, feeling energized and optimistic once again, he felt the need to accept the humans offer, feeling a bond with said human, Boris gave a quick nod as an affirmative.

Upon preparation to leave the cave, Ulysses noticed something rather peculiar. Next to the brightened lantern in the desk room was a stone of some sort, purple in color and shining a near violet shimmer towards light, Ulysses knew this wasn't here before, deciding not to pay the discrepancy any heed. Ulysses took the stone in hand and placed it inside one of his coat pockets, he believed that someone may want this journal as well, either to archive or to remember someone important. With that finished, Ulysses took back to the reflection cave, motioning himself towards the direction of one Shalour City.


	13. Ain't That A Kick in The Head?

_"Success depends on forethought, dispassionate calculation of probabilities, accounting for every stray variable."_

Robert Edwin House to Courier Six

* * *

Time slowly marched onwards for Ash, he couldn't wait for the conference. Many of his friends and rivals knew him for his short patience and supposedly high luck, but he was smarter than he let on, he knew for a fact that the giant suit of armor known as Six was hiding something. he just needed to figure out what.

"I suppose I'll worry about it later, for now though..." Ash was in a training park in Lumiose City, it seemed rather empty, save for several other trainers off to the side of the park.

Pulling out several spheres from his belt, Ash threw five of them, each revealing a different creature emerging from their respective pokeballs.

One was clearly an amphibian in nature, lean and clearly evolved for agility, it had an impossibly long tongue, the likes of which Gene Simmons would envy, wrapping across its body once in full measure. Another resembled a mid-sized bipedal hawk wearing a luchador mask, draped with red wings that acted as a cape, fully prepared to brawl with whomever crosses its path. The third creature was a pudgy dragon upon two legs, a sort of goo dripping from its lilac colored body. The fourth being was a large red bird relative to a falcon, its eyes burning with a passion to make its trainer proud. The fifth pokemon to appear was a large bat-like creature with a connected set of large ears in the shape of amp speakers, a tuft of white being the only light color when compared to its standard black and purple body. Finally there was Ash's good pal and closest thing he would call a brother, Pikachu.

"Alright guys, we've gotta practice for the Lumiose Conference coming up, now's a better time than never to prepare ourselves to win the Kalos League!" All six of Ash's team gave a collective cheer and set themselves to practice.

Whilst in the middle of practice, Ash and company heard sirens...well scratch that, he heard sirens AND screaming, can't forget the screaming man who was afraid of dying for some odd reason

"DROP YOUR WEAPON NOW! NOBODY HAS TO GET HURT!" This was Officer Jenny of course...well, one of them anyway. Jenny was talking to a certain figure in a labcoat, wearing glasses amongst a head of bleach blonde hair, our figure spoke in a sarcastic tone of voice.

"Look officer, calm your voice PLEASE, if your force was better trained. I wouldn't have had to shoot at the assailant."

"You disintegrated a lamp post!"

'He was resisting arrest. I did what a normal citizen would do, I pulled out a Plasma Defender and prepared to take aim. I'm not a very good shot."

"You also destroyed a portion of Lysandre Cafe. Explain that."

"I highly disapprove of baroque architecture. I find it rather tasteless."

Jenny just facepalmed, on one hand, this guy stopped a member of the infamous Team Flare from presumably attempting a robbery of a cafe. On the other, he caused significant damage to the vacancy and respective public utility close by...She didn't know what to do.

"I...you..ergh, look, just..stay out of trouble please? I don't want to hear about some new tourist showing off the latest in self-defense by blasting a few shots off."

"Of course, this object is exactly what you are describing, personal defensive armament, guaranteed non-lethal...well non-lethal to anything around the size of a tank or small military ship, but humbug on the details, am I right?" Jenny didn't appreciate the joke, especially when she had new paperwork to fill out.

"Just. Stay. Out. Of. Trouble. PLEASE..."

"Duly noted ma'am, have a nice rest of the day!" Labcoat was definitely hamming things up now.

Signaling a fake salute, the labcoat was now off to go..somewhere. He didn't know where though.

"Maybe they a library of some sort." Noticing a kid who clearly had caught wind of what had happened, the figure made a motion to ask for some help. "Hey, you, you in the blue shirt, mind helping a guy out?"

Ash was confused, this guy was as dangerous as Six, seemingly as friendly too. "Uhm..sure, watcha looking for?"

"Oh nothing really, unless nothing counts as looking for a close associate of mine, then clearly I'm looking for nothing."

Ash thought for a moment..maybe..just maybe. "Does your friend wear a giant suit of gray armor by any chance? Very hostile towards people wearing red?" This clearly surprised our lab coat wearing

"Actually...yes, how do you him?"

"He found us while walking through the Pomace Forest, now how do you know him?"

"Simple, he asked me to come along with him to save a land far far away, this magical journey included fun-filled adventures, the likes of which were filled in horrible fiery hellstorms and screams, 200 year old undead corpses, oh I can't forget the experience of nearly dying from raining artillery shells either. Fun times...I still have the nightmares."

Ash was confused, this guy was either extremely sadistic, or he was just a comedian with trolling phasers set to 'Mr. Mime'.

"Before we go continue to talk about your friend, what's your name exactly."

"Gannon. I'm a scientist, rather I was actually. I left the organization several years ago, fired actually, it seems obliterating a watchtower by mistake doesn't win you any friends."

"Huh, so what brings you here?"

"If I told you that I found a weird vehicle-mounted lightning gun that was installed on some sort of flying vehicle, then this vehicle starts beeping, and then I get carried along with it into this devices native dimension, would you believe me? If not, then I'm simply on vacation."

"Trust me. I've heard weirder."

"Oh do tell uhm..."

"Ash. Ash Ketchum."

"Alright then, Smash Catsup, explain how you've heard stranger things happen. I've been bored all day and nothing sadly requires my services. I'd also like to request your help to find my associate, preferably alive and not dead in any way." Ash just groaned, this guy was fun at parties, he could tell instantly. The pokemon master-to-be agreed to help, then explained about the different varieties of pokemon, starting with one very interesting example.

"Well, have you ever heard of the pokemon that attacks by jingling keys at you?"

"That...is the most depressing thing I've ever heard in my life."

* * *

We switch over to our favorite trio of villains and our equally favorite courier traveling along with them, bemoaning his lament at asking for help from these three. Listening to Jesse talk about her myriad accomplishments was torture of the highest degree.

"I've almost won many a pokemon contest, placing amongst the top four many times. My Seviper and I were one of the best teams around."

Six had to intervene before he lost his mind, Roxie looked as if she wanted to stab Jesse with her stinger...He thought about it, then hesitantly decided that bloodshed would only cause things to just get worse, with that, our courier spoke.

"I really don't understand anything you're saying, look, thanks for showing me the way, but we're already in town. I'll give you those waters right now, then you can go along your way, please." Six really wanted them gone, stat.

Before Six could reach into his bag and grab the bottles, a siren was ringing, then the sounds of breaking glass ,looking to his left. Six clearly saw a figure exit through a now-broken window, wearing a red uniform and glasses.

"These morons again? Hold on you two, there's no twerp stopping me this time." Six started to unsheathe something from his left hip.

Jesse and James were confused, twerp? He couldn't possibly mean THEIR twerp, right? They were shaken out of their thoughts by the object in Six's hand, a weapon akin to a revolver, matte black in color and showing signs of heavy use.

Six stepped towards the rather dapperly dressed figure, cocking the hammer on his revolver, and spoke in a clear rough voice.

"You reds come around like a bad habit, you know that?"

The man was clearly confused, then spoke in a whiny sounding pitch that grinded our couriers ears to no end. "Move out the way old man, if you know what's good for yo- oh dear."

*CLICK* William and Roxie were looking on, the chespin was worried, Roxie, however, was more indifferent than anything. She knew how the wasteland worked, what makes this any different?

Six's revolver was now pointed at the head of a wavering Team Flare grunt, terrified beyond measure was not only him, but everyone around him, the Rockets included, murmurs came across the nearby crowds.

"He isn't going to kill him is he?"

"Close your eyes and ears, go back into the house."

Six then saw a young boy in the crowd, staring at the weapon and showing obvious fear to Six. Courier Six, for the first time in his entire life, felt shame at aiming his weapon at a criminal, but it was now or never. Taking aim at his target, he prepared to fire. The grunt was closing his eyes, as these would most likely be the last moments of his life

*CLANG*

The shot was fired, not at the grunt, but rather at a paint can under some scaffolding. The grunt was more than surprised, he was relieved. Six spoke to the man in a hushed voice.

"I've got five more rounds in the chamber. I want you to drop the objects in your hand and leave. NEVER COME BACK. Understood?"

The grunt nodded with increasing speed, dropping his newly stolen prize, now revealed to be a group of shining stones, and set off northwards, towards his headquarters. Why didn't he shoot? Was he truly becoming soft?

The crowd dispersed after a while, but many still in the towns square held a look of worry and anger for Six, our courier took a seat at a nearby bench, with the three Rockets close by. Meowth spoke first.

"Hey...were you really gonna shoot da guy?"

Six replied immediately. "You're on the money cat."

"But why? Da cops surely would've busted him."

"Where I'm from, stealing something amounts to the death penalty, we follow the matra that an armed society is a polite society. Maybe your system is too lenient, or maybe ours is too severe, but I did what anyone back home would do."

"Pull a weapon on da crook and blast dem for stealing?"

"Bingo."

The Rockets were criminals, and their organization did kill, but they themselves were not murderers. This little glimpse into the land this man came from made the Distortion World seem like the Orange Islands. Jesse, in all her confidence, was drained of said quality by the action that took place mere moments ago. She felt the urge to ask something. But Meowth was more than happy to relay the question all three had on their minds.

"How many have you killed? I know we just met but I think we would like to know who you are."

Six knew someone would ask eventually. "How many people live here?"

James came next. "Around...carry the five, add two... around 1,500, why?"

Six finally figured how many lives he took, every face, scream and body that fell. He couldn't answer, years in the Mojave toughened his composure, but this land was bringing all that down like a nuke hitting D.C. He finally figured it out.

...

...

One thousand.

He'd taken the lives of nearly a thousand men and women, amounting to the various fiends, bandits, raiders and finally legionnaires over the course of many years. Each one had a story, and each story ended with him. The weight of the situation finally dawned on our courier

"I...uhm. I need to go for a moment."

"Where ya headed off to?"

"Somewhere! Just...not here. Here's your waters as per your reward. Roxie, stay here with William. I feel sick." Six spoke rather hastily, as though he figured something out that risked more than he gambled, with that. Six set out towards the southern woods. William instinctively followed his trainer, eventually coming upon a thick forest typical to Kalos.

"Ches? Chespin ches!"

"William? Look, just go back to Roxie okay? She'll make sure no trouble comes your way while I'm out here. I just need a moment to think."

Six had sat his back to a tree, gathering his breath. The memories of those five years he spent in the wasteland, the terrors of the many vaults and the myriad diversity of creatures he fought against, were now coming back to him full circle, why couldn't Benny have been a better shot? Had he hit his damned mark, numerous people wouldn't be dead right now.

William did the only thing he could think of for his trainer in an obvious time of need, he offered a hug.

"What the hell are you doing? Look kid, you don't want to be anywhere near me. I'm a monster, people called me a hero for my deeds, all I did was condemn crowds of people to their eventual deaths. I'm a literal embodiment of the Grim Reaper."

"Chespin! Che, chespin ches." William continued to hold tight to his owner.

"Jesus kid...you really are stubborn. Heh." Six, finally calmed down, and returned the tiny brown squirrels hug. In an instant however, William started glowing.

"What the actual hell?"

The creature now appearing before him was no longer a chespin, this creature was now mostly covered in a green shell with two small green spears sticking up at the top, orange at the tips. The nose was definitely pointier, and the top of his arms were covered in some form of equally green armor.

"Quill? Quilladin, din din!"

"Uhm...is that still you Will? You look like a walking bowling ball now." Six poked the nose of the creature.

The armored pokemon now known as Quilladin nodded and continued the hug. Six could only smile, evidently his buddy cared more than he thought, Six thought he was only around for the food at first.

"I suppose we should contact the Think Tank, they might know more about this...I suppose we should bother them later. I can imagine Roxie and company are probably worried about us."

"Quilladin?"

"I'm fine for now. I...just need to get used to things around here, it isn't easy finding out how civilization reacts to violence y'know..heh..heh"

William knew Six wasn't okay, something was definitely wrong, but if his trainer...no, his friend. If his closest friend could brush it off, then so could he, for the moment of course.


	14. Something's Gotta Give

_"What a cruel thing war is... to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors."_

Robert E. Lee, General of The Army of Northern Virginia

* * *

Dateline: Late Afternoon

Location: One of many of Lumiose City's many restaurants

* * *

Arcade Gannon was annoyed with life, he was tired, hungry and couldn't even get a bite to eat, he was convinced that some sort of higher deity had a sick sense of humor. Arcade had to admit that his first several hours here could've gone a lot worse, there could be an ash pile where that robber was, several officers could've been hit with plasma from a friendly fire incident...even though none of them were armed with more than a baton and a strange red and white ball, he did notice several tasers though.

Drinking down a glass of water offered by Bash Sketch'em...or whatever the kids name was. Arcade told Ash and company of his plight. He was sitting around of kids around half his age, and here he was preparing to explain some form of quantum teleportation theory to them.

"Here I am sitting in a nice shack along a ruined interstate, traders from New California were informing me, some guy in a lab coat, because I'm evidently intelligent enough to stare at a radar, about a bunch of weird duststorms and cattle deaths, these incidents turned out to be related to the appearance of an unidentified object in the sky. I thought it was just a case of bad Nuka-Cola consumption, but more and more people started telling me the same thing, something was off. I went to Goodsprings several days ago but Six wasn't there, he'd left a couple of days before me. So I followed his footsteps towards that stupid crater out west, several hours, a lightning gun and quantum teleportation late, and here I am."

Serena felt she knew who he was talking about. "Six? You mean the guy who wears this thick armor? He stands about eight feet tall?"

"Bingo kiddo, and they say blondes are dumb."

"But you're blonde too aren't you?"

"That only stengthens my point."

Just like Ash, Serena and Bonnie couldn't tell how this guy and Six got along...but they did, somehow or another, they suppose someone had to do all the talking and negotiating.

"Make no mistake. I may talk a lot, but Six has the silver tongue here, that guy could talk down a schizophrenic nightkin from attacking everything in sight...In fact I think he did, even better I think he succeeded. That's probably why Jacobstown is still standing." Bonnie wanted to speak next, but Serena interrupted her process

"So while Clemont is away, we want know about you and Six, what do you do for fun Mr. Cannon?" God, now he knew how Slash felt.

"I prefer intellectual activities, studying latin and enjoying a good bottle of Sunset Sasparilla. I know a compatriot of ours that would like you girls, underneath all that power armor and love for punching everything in sight, she loved dresses...she really REALLY loved dresses."

"Awh, its a shame she didn't come along..." A shame? More like a godsend, Veronica was a troublemaker for sure. Six personally had to make sure that Veronica couldn't go into Trudy's Bar again after smashing her bare fist into a wall...not a glove, her bare fist. Arcade wondered why Six associated himself with the Brotherhood, sure they meant well, but they always creeped Gannon out, always lurking through their man-made dust storm and carrying enough weaponry to blow a hole through the dam. Six trusted them though, and that's all that really mattered.

feeling his stomach rumble, the kids seemed to notice his hunger, with Serena speaking first.

"You know. Six gave us a place for the night several days ago, I think the best we could for him is to get you something, you have to be hungry after dealing with that guy Ash was talking about."

"I...have to admit. I've been surviving off of Yucca Fruit for the past several days, it would be nice to have something else."

"Well we ordered a group platter before you and Ash got here, and it seems Clemont isn't getting back in time to eat with us, so you can have his portion."

"Are you sure? I'm not one to turn down a meal, but what if the guy comes back?"

"Then we'll just get him a seperate plate."

After their conversation ended, a platter filled with fruits and vegetables appeared, along with their dinners of course, Gannon lucked out, somehow getting fried magikarp fillet, pokechow was poured for all the pokemon, seeing this, Gannon had to open his big mouth, curious about the creatures.

"Those animals, are they owned by you or something? I've also noticed those weird spherical things."

Ash decided to speak on the matter. "Pokemon are creatures that work with humans, they're equally and sometimes more intelligent than we are." So pokemon could eventually overtake the human race? Well at least they weren't mutants, and god forbid they definitely weren't Legion, Ash then held one of the spheres in his hand. "This is a pokeball, a pokemon protection ball." Gannon could care less about that thing though.

"Sounds fine and dandy to me, as long as they aren't trying to become the overlords of the realm. I'm fine with it."

Serena was curious of Arcades profession, she could tell he was a doctor of some sort, but she also learned from Ash the story of how the two met not even hours ago. "So, Mr. Gannon. I-"

"Please don't call me Mr. Gannon, that was my fathers name."

"Right, sorry. Arcade?" He nodded. "Good, what exactly did you research? Nothing bad I hope..."

"Ah, good question, you see, I studied medicinal compounds that could be used for the good of the Mojave. Six would be bones and dust right now if it weren't for my handy-dandy doctoring skills." Bonnie knew it was her turn to ask something, and whoever interrupted would feel her wrath.

"So you ARE a doctor? Do you have a degree like Professor Sycamore?" Now was Arcade Gannons time to shine!

"Why yes I do! Several in fact. I have a Masters in blasting away at targets from forty yards away with a laser beam. I also have a Bachelors in teaching Deathclaws to do the West Coast Swing. Now where did I put that M.D. for stabbing people with stimpaks and making pew-pew noises with finger cannons?" Everyone just sweatdropped, with the exception of Bonnie, she was giggling at these guys jokes for some reason, as was the little brown and black mouse on the table.

Arcade was happy, because for once, someone enjoyed his rather drollish humor, he always told the courier that the two humans and their cyber-dog Rex could become an act in The Tops, maybe he was actually right .

* * *

Courier Six, the hero of the wasteland, the man who destroyed the base of the fiends. Here he was walking in a rather calming forest, having just survived a near-mental breakdown, and was now headed back to Geosenge town with a newly..evolved, he guessed, creature that was identified as a Quilladin.

"Look, I'm sorry for scaring you back there. I just lost all comprehension."

William the Quilladin nodded, he figured there was more to Six than normally meets the eye, maybe the guy'll open up later on.

"Let's not discuss it now though. I'm sure Roxie and those three weirdos are waiting for us, unless Roxie hasn't torn them apart yet due to their annoying qualities. The poor girl."

Coming back into town, Six saw Roxie sleeping next to a shaded tree, the three Rockets were nowhere to be found.

"Where could they have gone? Ah well, good riddance I guess, come on, let's check the rest of the settlement out."

"Quill!"

"Good, Roxie, c'mon girl, we've gotta get a move on."

The bug-dog simply gave Six a death glare, as if to say 'I was dreaming I was a dog again'. She started flying again nonetheless.

Walking back through the town, several people had come up to Six, either thanking him for stopping the robbery or saying that he did well by not killing the man, even a monk, Six thought he was one anyway, was visiting the town at the time of the incident and gave the courier the blessing of something called Barking Hiss...no no wait...it was _Arceus,_ it was definitely Arceus.

"Who's..this Arceus you speak of?"

The old monk spoke in a elderly tone of voice, his long withery beard seemed to hide his mouth. "Arceus is the being that created all beings, both pokemon and human, those who are benevolent and just in their journey are granted this blessing, a blessing which I extend to you my boy."

"I almost killed a man, you call that benevolent?"

"But you granted him freedom, you missed your mark on purpose."

"Well...I suppose that's true..but-"

"Good, then by the laws of of the creators, by the life force of Xerneas, the life taker Yveltal, and the supreme creator Arceus. May your journey forever be blessed in your favour." This guy seemed to be one of those 'holier than art thou' types of priest.

Finally giving the man a good day and continuing his trek through the town, he came upon a store selling gems that looked similar to the ones the crook was stealing, the broken glass pane signaled that this was indeed that same store, Six walked in to inquire about these gems.

The store was relatively tidy, offering a variety of beautifully colored stones in protective glass, save for one specific end of the counter that had been recently broken into, the store owner soon appeared from the back room, a relatively young, brown haired man, he couldn't be any more than than 30.

"Ah, you're the snapshot everyone's talking about! I don't know how I could thank you for saving the Lucarionite."

"Lu-cairo-nite?" Six raised an eyebrow at this.

"Ah right. I figured you aren't from around here, Lucarionite allows the evolution of Riolu, which is Lucario, to mega-evolve into a more powerful form. Unfortunately no one has to yet to purchase it."

"How long has it been here?"

"My great-grandfather found it in the mountains towards the south, unfortunately this stone is more difficult for a Lucario and trainer to sync with than most."

"I see...I work with a group of scientists who specialize in fields from mineralogy all the way up towards animal science, truth be told. I can't make a lick of sense about this stuff you're telling me, but these scientists are the best in their business."

"Hmm...I've got it! I can't simply give you this particular stone. I'm sorry, but there are several more common stones in stock, as a reward for your assistance."

"Well...I guess I have no choice but to accept." Six was finally glad something was going his way, aside from the nature hike and seeing William evolve, this entire mission had been a disaster.

With Six's confirmation to receive the stones, the shopkeep went towards the back, bringing out three stones of differing color, one a light teal mixed with white, another was yellow mixed with pink, the last being yellow mixed with black.

"They're more common than the others, but they're all new from the mines, please, take them as a sign of my gratitude."

"Alright alright, calm down kid, can you at least tell me what these are called? For referencing purposes of course."

"Right, in the order I handed them to you, they are classified as Abomasite, Ampharosite and finally Mawlite, each for a respective pokemon of the same name."

"Interesting, so you can't use one stone for every pokemen then."

"Exactly, that's why these stones are highly valued and incredibly rare."

Six pocketed all three stones in a safer part of his jacket, making a note to get these over to Dala as soon as he reached Big Mountain, before he left however, the shopkeep spoke.

"Oh, and sir, before you leave, just know that there have been increasing reports of attacks on trainers from both Team Flare and Team Rocket."

Six was curious, he knew of Team Flare, but Team Rocket?

"Who is this Team Rocket?"

"They're an international crime syndicate dedicated to exploiting pokemon for profit, many of their activities have been brought to the public eye as of recent years, including illegal pokemon experimentation, three of their agents have been already sighted across the region."

"Does anyone know what these Rockets look like?"

"Actually. I have a wanted poster right here, take a look."

...

...

No way this was possible, the three on the poster were obviously the idiots he was traveling with earlier today. Six held a wide-eyed stare at the at the poster.

"Well damn..I..uhm..well thanks for letting me see this. here ya go."

"Actually I got a whole stack of these things, they've been cutting a swath of failed criminal activities throughout the region, more or less they're just a nuisance." Well at least they got that part right.

Signaling a good-bye and making his way back to the lab, he got some sort of call from the brains, pressing a button, he came face to face with Mobius.

"Erhm..hello? Hello hello. Ah, there you are Courier, listen carefully. I've come in contact with something amazing! I'll show you the footage when you get back, but first. I need to ask, how has the mapping expedition gone?"

"So far so good, coming back temporarily though, the little guy evolved to meet some sort of defensive niche by the way. I've also learned about a group of stones that increase these creatures powers."

"Oh how remarkable! I'm sure Dala would like to see these stones, and Borous would be thrilled to see the next evolution of the Che'spin, speaking of which, there've been sightings of two rather mobile and territorial creatures as of late, I don't understand what's happening, but they appear to attack each other quite frequently, do keep that in mind Courier. Oh, also, we've gotten several of the roboscorpions up and running properly, they won't fire on you when you enter the outer wall, their phasers are set to 'Stun' at worst."

"Alright Doc, Six out. I'll see you in a few hours."

Turning off the Lima, Six came face to face with a camera, a headheld camera to be exact.

"Uhm...what...?" Six was confused to say the least, someone was either a terrible spy or one hell of a distraction. Taking a step back, he saw a figure with brown hair that could only be described as bouncy. one lock appeared to stray away from the rest, as if it had a mind of its own, the owner of said hair was clearly female.

"Whoops, sorry guy, looking for the man who foiled the robbery of a mega-stone. I was looking for him to get an interview for the Lumiose Press"

"Oh, well I do hope you find the guy, don't mind me. I'm just heading towards the town limit." Six hated newspaper agencies, ever since the dam, everyone wanted an interview, even people from as far as the old New England Commonwealth approached him, he didn't think there were even survivors out there! It appeared, however, that someone had to ruin his chance to get away, it had to be a kid of course.

"Hey, she's interviewing the Geosenge Vigilante!" Jesus, these people came up with names already? With that said, the reporter immediately turned to Six, stars in her eyes and camera at the ready.

"This is Alexa of the Lumiose Press. I'm speaking to you from Geosenge Town with the one and only Geosenge Vigilante. Tell us sir, what made you confront the terrorist group known as Team Flare?"

"Lady, it was one guy, count my hand. ONE. GUY, this was only what...around an hour ago? I really don't have time for your nonsense kiddo."

"Kiddo?! I'll have you know that I've traveled across Kalos and Unova hitting the biggest of news stories! And if you thi-."

"Look, just go away please. Good god you're worse than my old friend Veronica. Look, I'm a busy man. I'm tired and ready to head back home, so be a good little girl and go play with dolls or something." This girl just kept following him, it was the most annoying thing ever. Six then did something he felt he would regret in the future, he took her camera and headset, and threw it somewhere towards the general vicinity of the park behind her.

"Hey! But I wasn't-" Six was gone, so was his Quilladin and giant angry looking Venemoth thing.

"I will get that interview! Mark my words vigilante. I know your kind, you always pop up wherever there's trouble." Alexa knew this guy was her big break to the top, if he was indeed as dangerous as people told her , then perhaps there was quite a bit of history behind that glorious beard of his...no, have to concentrate! Can't admire the facial hair right now, need to work out a plan.

Alexa, as stubborn as she was, figured he was heading north, somewhere along Route 11, he might have a cabin in the forest near there...that or he completely ditched her and set off towards Shalour City, either way, she would make sure she would get that interview.

But first she needed to find her equipment and more than likely purchase another set...

* * *

Set farther towards the north, we see our favorite wandering former tribal, Ulysses, finally reach the end of the cave...right into another forest, while he did enjoy the change in scenery, there were too many hiding spots now, every bush could be an ambush point, ever tree could be-

*SNAP*

Ulysses took his pole in hand, leering towards the left, here stood a thicket of woods, aiming his pole as though it were a pike, Sawk and Throh got into their respective stances, Boris just simply floated over the thicket.

Out of the brush came three figures..actually it was just the Rockets, they've been popping up so much that they don't even need an introduction at this point, they did look rather haggard though.

"*SIGH* You three again? What are you doing here?"

Jesse was first to speak, obviously in a dramatic manner, because it just isn't Jesse without drama. "Oh no. Not you again, it's either you or that revolver wielding nutcase."

"A revolver wielding nutcase? Do tell."

"Why should we? Look dusty, we're leaving you and him alone, you two and all your pokemon? We don't even want to steal them anymore, we're taking a vacation, come on you two."

Ulysses had to actually raise his eyebrows at this, this action he conducted is said to be a pivotal moment in post-war history. Ulysses was close to speaking, before he could though, Team Rocket was blasting off into a light jog towards Shalour City.

"Well...I..don't know what to say at this point."

All his companions could was agree, even the Gengar was lost.

"Well, let's keep moving." Ulysses then noticed a sign that showed Shalour City as being 10 miles towards the north, headed towards an eventual battle between Team Rocket and a certain rollerblade-loving gym leader.


	15. Lodi

_"There's a lesson here, in the Divide. Old World history about paving and intentions could teach the Republic a thing or two - if they listened. They have an idea of trying to do what's right, never quite getting there. They're stretched thin, can't protect their frontlines, their towns. Think paper's power, radio means control. All of it? Useless."_

Ulysses to The Courier about the NCR

* * *

Six was tired, for the first time, he was tired, he had just for several straight miles, of course Roxie was behind him, she only had to fly. William decided just to hitch a ride on her, it would be quite the sight in the wasteland, but enough with going off topic, Six figured he may have ran about 5 or so miles at the end of the day to get away from that reporter, checking his Pip-Boy, it clocked at around Six o'clock, the sun was preparing to set, and with it, certain animals were just starting to awaken.

Our courier was used to the sounds of the Mojave, the sounds of the forest, on the other hand, were almost alien to him, the multitudes of whistling owls and scattering insects were starting to grow. Six then remembered that his Pip-Boy had a light, turning it on, he tried to assure both himself and his companions.

"God I hate evenings, nights are even worse, ah well, at least it isn't raining, right guy-"

*CRACKLE* A burst of lightning sprang from the earth, with it came small droplets of water. Rain in the Mojave was becoming much more common recently, whether it was due to the environment returning to a somewhat stable normalcy, or mother nature was just pissed off at the world, Six didn't know, he hated rain either way, it rusted his power armor much quicker than normal. Apparently he wasn't the only one, several animals clung underneath various trees and leaves trying to keep away from the watery element.

"Well...at least those morons aren't coming along anymore, that's something good...right?"

The cazador and quilladin both nodded, they all agreed that the trio seemed rather suspicious, William though he remembered them from sometime ago, but decided to brush it off. Six checked the LIMA, it seemed they were getting closer to the complex, finally coming upon the same meadow they came out of.

"Well guys, we're back in the crater, ready to get some rest?"

Roxie only nodded, William on the other hand was confused, this thing was a crater? Sure didn't look like it. Bah, he'd deal with discrepancies later, he was tired from the trip.

Six waltzed back towards the complex, eventually coming upon two things.  
A: The fence that normally protected Big MT from anything outside.  
B: A robotic yellow scorpion, seeming to make friendly chirps at Six, afterwards it fired a small pulse at the fence, disabling it temporarily.

Six only shrugged at this, it was odd, but then again, one of his companions was a giant wasp, who's he to judge? Deciding to pay Mobius a visit first, he moved northward towards the forbidden zone...ah screw it, we're calling it Mobius' Lab, the forbidden zone hasn't been the forbidden zone since Old World Blues ended, how Six conveyed any of that to thought is something we aren't finding out, it's just a courier thing. Deal with it.

Moving on, Six walked past half a dozen or so roboscorpions, all of them just chirping at him, when they aren't shooting you, they're kind of adorable in a robotic scorpion kind of way, he also noticed the cazadores, five in fact, all flying around the domes, keeping overwatch over Big Mountain, finally having reached Mobius' Lab, Six walked into a very peculiar sight, the main workshop was littered with various robotics surveillance equipment. Whatever Mobius had found definitely kept his attention.

"Ah, the courier! You've returned, pardon the mess. I've been rather busy as of late, is that the evolved form of Che'spin you have? What an interesting little fellow."

William was amused, the good doctor had obviously just recently come in contact with his kind, he guessed that only strengthened the theory that the complex wasn't naturally from here. Six spoke to the doctor, revealing the stones he was given as a gift.

"Know of any way we could experiment with these?"

"Hmm...I would suggest discussing it with Dala, she's already discovered a dozen varieties of these 'mega-stones'. In fact, during a deep earth survey, it appears we're on top of a goldmine of these stones."

"Say what doc?"

"We've calculated, over the course of several hours, that we might be sitting atop a massive unidentified vein of these stones, or rather, they're in the mountain next to us. If they're as rare as the passerby say they are, according to some hidden security cameras, then quite possibly, we alone could manipulate the market!"

"I"m guessing that isn't what our plans are though."

"No sir, not at all, we have enough of the stones currently to freely conduct research without fear of depleting resources. I've been trying to convince the tank of lowering our hostility requirements."

"Doctor, why would we want to do that? We already have enough attention as it is, remember that verti-assault squad?"

"First off Courier, that was a helicopter assault squad, secondly. I wished you had handled that differently, no one has to be killed here. I doubt they'd return anyway, they seemed like fresh recruits more than anything, and your clever ruse gave them quite the good old one two punch...figuratively speaking of course."

"Alright doc, so, need me for any more mapping expeditions?"

"Not right now, however, the hijacked satellite has been transmitting some unusual chatter, something about a Z2 Initiative and preparations to unleash its greatness upon Kalos by the orders of Lysandre. Eight set up a listening post to learn more. I believe trouble is afoot, but my opinion alone won't amount to a grain of sand."

"Just keep an eye on the chatter Mobius. I think I know who Lysandre is."

"Ah yes, I remember now, his name was mentioned by those cannon fodder for operatives. I can only fear what plans he had after our capture...eeeergh, my mainframe's getting chills just thinking of it."

"Don't worry about it, remember, you've got me on board."

"That only makes me worry more, eventually he might send this 'Z2 initiative' against us!"

Six could only nod, Mobius had a point, whatever this thing was, it didn't sound the least bit benevolent. Six set off towards the Think Tank.

* * *

Dateline: Earlier in the day

Location: Lumiose City

* * *

Arcade Gannon was now by himself, he had gotten directions from the children shortly after they told him about their plans of heading west towards a 'Shalour City', these directions were towards a professor who might make use of his medical skills, at least he was getting paid to do soemthing other than shoot.

Coming upon a tall glass structure, Arcade figured this had to be the place, with the sliding doors beckoning him to enter, he set foot inside a crisp clean reception center, appearing to a wide-smiling receptionist, she seemed friendly enough.

"Hello! Welcome to the Lumiose Laboratory, do you have an appointment?"

"Well...not really. I was directed here by a group of kids who said this place could use a person of my expertise, not really sure how much that amounts to though." Gannon was incredibly nervous, if there was one thing he hated more than the Legion, it was talking to people.

"Kids you say, was one of them named Ash Ketchum?" So that was the kids name? He'd been trying to get the name right, he figured the poor kid was actually named Ass, ah well, another joke for another meeting he supposed.

"Why yes he was, as well as...Sabrina, Connie and...Damnit."

"Don't you mean Serena, Bonnie and Clemont? Please mind your language sir"

"Sure sure, whichever works. I get tongue-tied often, do forgive me."

After explaining his field of study, and how ethical his work was, the receptionist was relaying this information to her computer. He saved her small details like seeing ghouls take off in several rocket ships or the time Six fought a giant radscorpion with his bare hands, the guys fist was the size of a soccer ball! Not from the sting, because he wasn't stung, but because he fought a giant radscorpion with his bare fists, those things were like walking houses made of bricks. These people didn't need to know about that though.

"Allow me to contact Professor Sycamore, we may actually have a position open for a pokemon botanist."

Botany huh? Well, it seemed better than living on the street, judging by the size of the structure, they might have beds on board too! Free food, fresh air galore, and not a single syringe of psycho or container of jet in sight, true bliss.

"Sir, if you would follow me please. I'd like to lead you to your operation area."

"Of course, lead the way ma'am."

After minutes of walking down countless corridors, they came upon a greenhouse with the sun beaming down brilliantly, Gannon saw things that clearly wouldn't last a day in the Mojave. Everything was just so...green.

"Ma'am. I'm not an expert on flowered plants. I practiced mainly in desert environments."

"That's fine, in all honesty, your job requires you to simply to assist the plant pokemon maintain this area, you'll have several co-workers that will assist you in any way possible." Great! More people to be awkward around.

" _Wonderful..._ "

"Great! Today will actually serve as a training session, ask questions and please don't hesitate to let your co-workers help you if you get stuck."

With her pep talk finished, she set off, here was Arcade, his first day here and already he got signed for work he doesn't even know how to do, ah well. Got to make the best of it, there were two other workers here, one was a possibly bald elderly gentleman wearing a green cap, his attire an equally green shirt and grey pants with shoulder straps, strange fashion choice, in his hands were a pair of gardening shears. The other was a blonde-haired female wearing a white tank top, armed with camera in hand, she seemed rather peppy and played around with the various...pokemen? Ah, Gannon didn't know the plural, he just sighed in defeat and walked towards the two,

"Hey. I'm Arcade, it's a pleasure, you two must be my co-workers, correct?" Gannon was trying his damnedest to keep a forced smile.

The elderly man stepped up to the plate. "Not at all my boy, we're actually here to cheer for those at the Lumiose Conference."

Blonde-haired chick spoke next. "Yep, that's right, every gym leader is going to be there, supporting those who got all eight badges."

"Right, the conference. I've to remember to get a ticket for that." Good lord you're a terrible liar! You know and the viewers know it.

"Really young whippersnapper? The conference is free to those who attend, it's because of the boost in tourism that it's free! See?"

"He's right, that just settled the score, you aren't from around here are you?"

No, no he isn't, he dropped from the sky and destroyed a piece of Lysandre Cafe with a pew-pew plasma pistol. What more does that tell you lady? "Actually I just touched down today, came from somewhere different, was a rough ride too." Now blondie was curious, so was grandpa gardener.

"Another region huh? Care to tell us where you're from? Must be a violent place if your first instinct is to shoot a lightpost into disintegration." Welp, blondie just got curious enough to make Gannon actually thi- Wait, what was that last one? Both the woman and old man nodded.

Damnit, they found out! Calm down Gannon, you can wing this, somehow or another. "Well of course, the Mojave Region is known for its nearly nonexistent police force, we do have a standing army but we just got finished with a civil war, so bandits and raiders are pretty much common at this point." At least there was some truth to his words, the NCR didn't like playing babysitter for New Vegas, grandpa spoke soon after Gannon finished, breaking up his train of thought.

"Y'know, you don't seem like a bad kid. I think you might like it better compared to your 'Mojave' Region, just give it time."

"Sure, sure, do you know when the other workers will get here?"

Blondie interjected. "We may come in on a voluntary basis, but we aren't them. I'm Viola, and this is Ramos. I master in the use of bug pokemon, while Ramos is a master in Grass pokemon, respectively, we're the perfect candidates for the botany dome, but again, we only volunteer. Your co-workers are those two right there."

From a corner of the dome came two...plants, one literally a walking flower, it looked like it was wearing a flower as a hat, its arms were also petals...that moved like arms, apparently its dress consisted of, you guessed it. petals! The other was so damn tiny you couldn't see it, you could see the spooky floating flower though, upon closer inspection, we just find its actually the tiniest pokemon possibly in existence, with a white body and tiny beady eyes that make ants look like they're wearing glasses.

Ramos spoke first. "These two are Lilligant and Flabebe, Lilligant is a grass type while Flabebe is a fairy."

"Got it, Lilligant and A la Flambe, you said grass and fairy pokemen? So there's different kinds huh? Do explain."

"Well, let's start with the simpler ones, fire, water and grass."

* * *

Transitioning over to the Think Tank, Dala was examining the stones Six had given her, they bore some sort of mystical power that was enclosed within the stone itself. It needed some sort of trigger to activate to its full potential. Diversity was the champion of evolution, these stones could clearly amplify the power of the companion creature to a degree that was unparalleled!

Borous had recently identified the species known as Lucario, which appeared as a bipedal creature more or less associated with the species Canis. Establishing and measuring the strength of said creature, with the creatures equally powerful physical and mentally-based powers, this Lucario, on its own, could go toe-to-toe with a deathclaw,

With the stone however? Comparing the stones among each other, as she didn't have Lucarionite sadly, Dala noticed a pattern of strength enhancement around the lower double digits. Theoritically a mega-evolution of Canis Lucarius could go through an entire brigade of power-armored soldiers. Such power was not without sacrifice however, running several simulations, Dala and Borous came to the conclusion that the creature would die of severe heart and brain failure if used alone, the stone needed some sort of vessel to operate safely and securely, a human trainer per say.

Dala and Borous were the two scientists hardest at work, the combination of mega-stones and newly-arrived species only proved that there was more to learn than ever before, however, there was another scientist, one listening closely to various degrees of radio chatter. Eight was listening to a series of beeps, morse code perhaps? Preparing to recite the code to paper, it appeared to use a mixture of beeps, dashes and oddly enough, numbers. To use such a complex mixture of signals only meant that something important was being recited, but it disappeared immediately, replaced by two other stations speaking in numbers.

The station first identified was K04, broadcasting with another, classified as F12, K had to refer to the territory they were in, according to Six, they were in Kalos, it couldn't be simpler than that, as for F, even our soundwave genius didn't have a clue. Kalos Zero-Four was sending a myriad of codes to F-Twelve. With F-Twelve, something more mysterious started to happen, F-Twelve started reciting numbers and a single letter in a low feminine voice. Eight wrote this to paper, it read as followed.

"Kalos Zero-Four, Kalos Zero-Four, This Is Furret One-Two. I repeat, Furret One-Two, commence movements towards four eight degrees, one seven four five decimal eight North. Four degrees three three five six decimal nine West. Read Back."

"48'17'45.8"N 4`33'56.9"W. Charlie charlie. Expedite in Nine. Confirm Last Read Back Furret Five-One."

"-" This morse prosign signaled an affirmative, it must've been the unknown station that Eight noticed went off of the network mere moments ago.

Looking closer at the writings, these were clearly coordinates of some sort. Using the hijacked satellite, Eight was able configure the coordinates into the system, the set pointed towards a forest near the mountain, specifically their mountain just northeast of them. Eight had several theories, maybe a military force was simply doing a reconnaissance sweep? Perhaps it was someone playing a highly-developed trick? Before any of his theories came to light, the numbers stopped, seemingly replaced with unit callsigns. for whom or what? He could only guess.

* * *

 _Author's note, notice those coordinates? Taking a gamble with my amateur mapping skills, I tried to place Big Mountain as close to the southwestern edge of the Pomace Mountains as much as possible, using a real-world map of France. I tried to triangulate where the Pomace Mountains would be, it was a pain in the ass, but I think I got it close to where the mountains would be on a map of France, also tried simulating realistic radio chatter, probably failed, ah well, it's fiction. I could insert a giant rubber duck in this and there would still be context!_

 _Honestly I've probably got too much free time on my hands. I drive a truck, been driving for three months straight barring the occasional weekend and I got a three week break as a result. I've got one more week before I head back to work, but this story will be updated as much as possible, until then. I have plans to add in more and more to the story. Ulysses reaches Shalour City in the next one._


	16. Riders on The Storm

Authors Note- Longest chapter yet, been a few days eh? I'd gotten a visit from some family that lives up in the True North, some folks I hadn't seen since I was moved some 10 years ago, but humbug on that. You came here for a fictional story, and here I am trying to sell my autobiography. (I offer hardcovers and paperbacks people.)

* * *

 _"There is an expression in the Wasteland: "Old World Blues". It refers to those so obsessed with the past they can't see the present, much less the future, for what it is."_

* * *

Dateline: Night, sometime after midnight

Location: Lysandre Labs

Somewhere inside of a certain madmans laboratory, said madman, revealed to be Lysandre, was making preparations to _interrupt_ the Lumiose Conference, first though, he needed to get this Scatterbug...no. it was more of a Pinsir jabbing at his side now, our red-haired maniac was at his wits end; First a botched assault on this 'Big Mountain', then a failed attempt at getting one of the last Lucarionite stones in the southern grid. No matter though, he made sure all the tables were in his favor. He thought of life as a chess game, and Lysandre was opening up with a queen's gambit.

"Sir Lysandre, three out of the four operational units in the southern hex are ready."

"Good, any word from Xerosic?"

"Affirmative, he has confirmed that Z2 will be able to operate, albeit only in its 10 percent form."

"That's more than enough to rip through their defenses, how long until our attack force is upon them?"

"Approximately three hours sir."

"Very good grunt, tell the admins to inform me as the situation continues."

The grunt gave a formal salute, carrying on to his intended station. Lysandre gave a smile so wicked and wreathed in furious anger that it would make Giovanni cringe.

"Soon guardian, you and I are going to have a little talk." With that, Lysandre left his desk to go straight to the scene of his immediate rise to power

Over the Pomace forest was a group of some dozen helicopters each sporting a symbol of a simple grey star in place of the flame, on the ground was something much more sinister, a convoy of vehicles approached the forest beyond Geosenge, one vehicle prepared to unleash its unholy cargo, exiting out of this vehicle, two admins appeared. Donning white buttoned shirt and equally white pants, the only thing that stood out were the red goggles on their individual heads.

The male admin, completely clean-shaven and bald, spoke to the red-haired female admin accompanying him.

"This place caused quite a stir the other day huh? You sure Z2 can handle this?"

"I'm as sure as a gyrados is angry, Z2 will rip the entire complex apart, any security they have will be scrap by the time its finished."

In the air, Lysandre had gone through the trouble and money of hiring mercenaries; A well-equipped, paramilitary, and rather immoral mercenary group straight from the Kanto Region, there was no way he would give up his plans over one lone man and several hundred acres of innocent technology.

A voice came in over the radio, signaling that the time to attack drawing near.

In the helicopter, men donned assault gear, equipping rifles and explosives equipment, their leader spoke through a comlink.

"Orders from Flare are simple, let the ground teams rip through security, then we move and mop up, our bounty is given at the end of the op."

* * *

Inside the Big Mountain Think Tank, Eight sounded the alarms, and for good reason, a force similar in size to an airborne reclamation force was inbound, less than five miles out, only these men clearly weren't liberators, no doubt they were here to capture many of Big Mountains secrets. Klein was panicking at first, demanding retaliatory cruise missiles against the invaders, Borous and Dala condemned the idea, too much wildlife would be destroyed, the ecosystem could be extremely fragile as it stands already. They all agreed to wake Six though, he needed to get his gear and armor asap.

In the middle of a green field, Six sat alone, pondering days long past, the sky was a heavenly blue and a few swirling white clouds flew across the sky, at least they were, until a siren began screaming in his ear. Imminent invasion were the words continually coming out of its speaker, it wasn't just Six either, Roxie hit her head on the ceiling and William nearly impaled Muggy with a needle arm. Six finally came to his senses, figuring that the Tank must've accidentally pressed a button.

Entering the Tank, Six let out a repressed yawn, as did Roxie and William. Six spoke to Klein, clearly shaking for some strange reason.

"Jesus, Klein you okay? What's with the invasion alarm?"

"BECAUSE THERE IS AN INVASION! THEY'RE APPROACHING RATHER CLOSE TO THE COMPLEX, AND THERE HAVE BEEN SIGHTING OF LIGHTS SIMILAR TO A SMALL MILITARY CONVOY!"

"C'mon Klein, it's not like the military knows where we are..."

"But there is someone else Lobotomite." Zero spoke in a calm demeanor.

"Good god, if it isn't raiders or Legion, it has to be something else, do you have a count?"

Klein, in all of his dramatic flair, spoke accordingly. "NO...WE CAN'T REALLY DETECT THEIR FORCES ON GROUND, THERE ARE AT LEAST A DOZEN AERIAL CRAFT THOUGH."

"A dozen?! Man they really want the place, what else do we-"

"Better watch out Lobomite, they've got something that's putting out a lot of energy, can't tell what it is though."

"Tell Mobius to activate the scorpions, those weird cazador things and anything else we have, we can't let Big Mountain fall."

* * *

In the midnight sky shown many a bright light, the tails of many a helicopter were glowing red, signaling their distance, on the ground stood Lysandre, he left the office just for this occasion, it took quite a few of his funds to prepare this attack. Lysandre, now standing upon a tall hill overlooking the complex, figured he had finally pushed Big Mountian into checkmate, looking through a set of binoculars, the place was a marvel to behold, though he wondered why it looked the way it did, it was an aged complex, yet filled with many scientific marvels that even Unova couldn't begin to fathom.

"Prepare the ground assault now, launch the power surge! Whatever robotics they have will be as useless as paperweights."

The device upon the mysterious truck was a tall cylindrical object glistening with lightning blue energy, with its activation, Team Flare just might claim hold to Big Mountain, as the central system increases in energy, there little room to hold all out, it expands into a circular radius, ineffective to the helicopters and communications equipment.

* * *

"Dr. Zero, they're firing some sort of EMP weapon!"

"Damnit Dala, give me a second, diverting critical power systems, brain support and cyber-dog support commands to the shielded drives."

Inside Mobius' Lab, he finally drew the line at invasion, several people who were lost weren't much of a problem to him, but a paramilitary invasion force broke his calm demeanor, he contacted Six, informing him that he wouldn't be conducting a one-man 300 re-enactment.

The wave of blue energy flew across the complex, disabling many unshielded roboscorpions, the cyber-dogs, for the most part, just enjoyed the pretty lights, as they were simply metal and organic put together.

* * *

"Zulu Seven-Two through Seven-Nine, commence drop-offs now, location of interest is eastern-"

Jackal Two-Zero, you're flying to close to the treeline, adjust altitude accor-"

The many voices on the radio confirmed that the first phase of attack was conducting to the highest standards, the eastern edge was claimed with little to no resistance. The western side was pain to attack though, ground teams were having issues with 'robotic dogs, yellow scorpions with laser beams and Venemoths from the Distortion World'. Lysandre diverted several other helicopter teams to dispatch the nuisances with efficiency. Something was off, however, and that was the absence of the guardian, he was nowhere to be found. Where could he have been?

Six heard the sounds of gunfire outside, a clear sign that some things never change, no matter where you go. Powering on his armor, Six told Roxie and William to stay inside where it's safe, exiting through the lobby, he heard shuffles of feet and fluttering wings behind him.

"I really don't have time for this, you two may be brave, but you could die out there. I'm not letting my favorite green guy and giant wasp get ripped to shreds by those jukes outside. so stay here..STAY." Six put out his hands to emphasize to them to stay put.

This only srtengthened the resolve of the wasp and quilladin, forcing Six into a familar, uncomfortable situation.

"Ugh...just..stay behind me, please, for the love of god."

Outside was a warzone, Mobius' roboscorpions were torn apart by electric dog things.. The cyber-dogs were mainly pressed on the eastern side, with cazadores harassing the helicopters, causing several to eventually crash in the ground below them, the sound of Six's armor moving was not hard to recognize, it was akin to an elephant wearing metal clogs and stomping around.

Eventually Six came upon a squad of mercs, armed with combat rifles and probably equally armed with combat experience, the cyber-dogs from X-13 were re-issued to aid Six in fighting off the attack, what was seen was a massacre, the dogs were no match for the veteran mercs, in just several seconds, the dogs that guarded X-13 with their lives were now on the ground, breath no longer drawing from them.

Six withdrew his weapon of choice, the classic CZ53 Minigun, firing away the mercs. Many of his rounds were unfortunately missing the mark, due to the mercs claiming immediate cover, another squad was called in to disable Six, no sooner had this team called for help than another twelve men came to Six's right, firing not at him, but at his ammo pack, it shattered into a flaming heap of 5mm scrap, his minigun was now nothing more than several dozen pounds of worthless metal.

Six was being pelted by what were apparently high-velocity rounds, his armor was decreasing in its damage threshold, seeking cover immediately, he was also contacted by Mobius once more.

"Hey doc, now isn't the time, it looks like we're cutting at a loss here."

"I wouldn't say that, Eight concocted a plan to freeze the entire invasion, he just needs a few more minutes."

"That's about all I can provide."

"You aren't alone Courier, you have those two beside you, and my X-42 Mk. II is almost prepared."

"I'm not going to bother asking, just bring the damn thing out here!"

Lysandre was more than impressed, he reminded himself to offer these men a place in his organization. They not only managed to subdue the guardian, they might actually manage to capture him too. He was convinced that victory was at hand, that was true, until the giant house sized robotic scorpion arrived.

The X-42 was given simple orders, attack anything that doesn't conform with Big Mountain, its 'do not maim or injure' list consisted of cyber-dogs, roboscorpions and Six and respective company. Firing away at the many helicopters flying close, several went down in a burst of flame, respective of the symbol pf their bosses, who were paying their salaries for this mission, as did a couple of small squads, who faced the wrath of his gatling lasers.

Many of the mercs noticed the machine, opening fire with various grenade launchers and high-caliber rifles, the Team Flare admins ordered any and all electric types to engage the scorpion., eventually they had tagged one of its legs, to which it self-detonated to avoid further damage, but Flare was relentless in their attack on the robot, eventually causing it to tumble foward, but not before Mobius activated one final trick up his sleeve. a five-thousand pound remotely timed airburst charge was hidden in the mainframe, now ticking away slowly as the mercs and grunts ventured closer. Six knew what was going to happen, and shielded William away from the eventual explosion, Roxie stood behind cover as best as she could.

Lysandre was back on comms again. "Very good Team Flare, we've managed to claim the facility, guard that robotic...scrapheap, I'm allowing the admins to come down, they simply have to gather their research equipment, I'm also sending several helicopters to evacuate your wounded."

Back on the ground, Six was worn-out, his armor had been torn to ribbons, Roxie had protected William from several mercs, stabbing them and injecting her fatal poison, but it wasn't enough, she was on the ground, buzzing away to William, as if to comfort him. Six saw helicopters approaching the site, more of them had been redirected to the battle site, contacting Mobius, Six finally felt like the world was ending around him.

"Doc, there's just too many of them, you can't possibly have a plan for this."

"Actually Courier, we're now more ready than every, the Tank has one last trick up its sleeve."

"What exactly is it? Gah, don't tell me, just use it!"

With the final moments of the hidden roboscorpion charge ticking away, Six was nervous, many of the top-floor security systems were destroyed. Many of the hired guns started to stare towards the south, where the cannons sit, a ghastly sound was emitting from the two cannons, both of which were being loaded with some sort of ammunition. Six took that as an initiative to hoist himself over the howitzers to fire them off.

Stumbling as quickly as he could, our courier managed to fall at the base of the cannon console, operating procedures for both of them were installed, and they were now taking aim at the targets to their left, many of the mercs felt it necessary to destroy the cannons at any cost, eventually, a brave few had chucked several grenades into barrels of one of the two cannons, detonating the entire piece in the process. Now they only had to reach the tallest of the two, in order to reach it, they had to climb a staircase, protected by Six of course.

Six was in no condition to fight, his body and armor worn out by the fierce combatants, he never figured that anti-material rifles would be used en masse, but that's what he got for thinking. So here reaches the pivotal moment, between independence and capture of Big Mountain stood Six, here stood the man that one thousand faces saw for a final time. Six felt sick to his stomach for a few seconds, how many more would have to die by his hand? How many had to die before any progress was made?

Our courier stood prepared for combat, but not before an explosion rocked the earth to its core, looking to his back, Six saw the massive roboscorpion was now no mare than a vessel for pure destruction, detonating among the most qualified and experienced leadership in Team Flare, the blast was instantaneous, with warhead placed inside expanding, it couldn't have been any more powerful than a small tactical nuke, the smoke flew low, thankfully a design choice that was deliberate, at the end of the blast, nothing more was there aside from a giant crater.

Lysandre was appalled, more than a few of his admins were based with the scorpion robot, as were many of those **_highly expensive_** mercenaries, then he took a gamble, the base used all of its trump cards, they had nothing left., or so he thought, he decided to go down himself, Lysandre would face the man or woman who caused nearly a fifth of his organization to be utterly destroyed in one single day.

Six barely managed to fight off the goons, eventually taking a shot to an O2 hose from an obvious sniper, it was here that Six was forced out of his suit by the mandatory ejection system. Six now stood, clad in full recon armor, obviously beaten up during the fight, but our courier still had plenty of wasteland grit in him, and was prepared to take every single merc or die trying, Six stood at the base of the stairs, super sledge in hand and two familiar creatures by his side.

All was silent, the mercs ran through their ammo a while ago, whilst Six had no ammo period. It only seemed fair that this would end terribly for someone, that would have been the case, had someone not appeared, some red-haired demon that commanded the force set upon Big Mountain, the man spoke in a dark and equally deep voice, one that clearly commanded respect.

"So you're the guardian who's been causing my organization trouble? I must say. I expected you to be more...youthful."

Six figured this must've been Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare, he had an equally sarcastic quip ready for this occasion.

"You must be the leader of these raiders. Tell me Alexander, who does your hair? I'm sure gravity and physics are a pain in the ass to work against."

"Firstly mortal. I'm _Lysandre_ , though a simpleton like you clearly doesn't understand who he's talking to, a shame really. Mercenaries, rest your weapons, I wish to have a final talk with the guardian before his capture, and you would do well to listen to what I have to say."

Held in Lysandre's hand was a small cylinder housing some sort of plant cell.

"What if I don't let you talk?"

"Then your entire complex will be nothing but ruin, and its destroyer is in this little jar."

This guy had one hell of a poker face, one that the likes of Mr. House's computer monitor would envy. Six couldn't see any fake-out or a glimmer of doubt in this mans eyes. He had to be serious.

"Fine, I'll listen to what you have to say."

* * *

Dateline: Several hours earlier; mid-evening

Location: Shalour City

* * *

Ulysses had reached the town of Shalour City, recognized wholly for its beautiful Tower of Mastery, this tower also houses the famous Shalour Gym, spearheaded by the equally famous Korrina. Ulysses had entered the town with a high sense of caution, he had heard passerby on the route say that some Team Flare was spotted headed southwest, if these were the same men whom he had seen several days ago, then there was definitely a troubled road up ahead.

Entering the town, Ulysses was greeted by a familiar sight, the three morons he met earlier, what wasn't familiar was the fact that they had picked a fight with a young blonde-haired girl on rollerblades with a blue Anubis lookalike by her side, this would be fun to watch. Figuring he shouldn't intervene just yet, Ulysses stood by and observed. The young girl spoke to our three favorite numbskulls in a high pitched tone.

"You guys really have nothing better to do? I thought we had wanted posters up to keep thugs like you out of our towns?"

Jesse spoke up next, clearly annoyed with the days turnout. "Listen here you twerp, we were just leaving! All three of us just met two of the most terrifying nutcases in Kalos, and here we thought you were all just goody two-shoes."

James interrupted. "Jesse. I don't even think they were from Kalos, remember what that one guy said?"

Meowth decided to remind the the other two their original plans. "Hey you two, remember what we were doing? We was just leaving for da airport."

Ulysses thought it would be fun to interrupt their conversation, but waited a bit longer to hear them spit some more stupidity out of their mouths.

James questioned Meowth on the matter at hand. "Airport? Did we apply for passports? And even with passports, how would we even hitch a ride without money?" To which Jesse happily, actually ignorantly, replied.

"We'd just steal some of course, we might've had some money if we snatched that one mega-stone when revolver guy was gone, but no, some elderly woman had to pick it up and return it to the store."

Rollerblade was interested in this story. "Hold up you two, did you say revolver? As in an actual six-shooter like they have in the movies?"

Now was Ulysses time to shine, philosopher mode turned on.

"Ah the revolver, the weapon of choice for the lawbreaker, the law abider and the lawbringer, the way it's handled doesn't characterize the owner, it's who it's pointed that classifies the shooters intentions."

All four stared at Ulysses, with James speaking first.

"Hey Dusty, what are you doing here? Not that we have a problem with you being here, but-"

"Dusty? Who is this guy? Doesn't look like he's with any of you morons." Rollerblade's blue Anubis dog-thing on two legs merely nodded in agreement. Ulysses had no plans with being affiliated with these three cacti-for-brains, and he was ready to make that known

Ulysses voice boomed towards the three idiots, he was only slightly angry, but even slight anger from Ulysses was a thing to fear, it's the sole reason that Six never played Caravan with the guy."My name is Ulysses of the Twisted hairs, not 'Dusty', and the one you refer to as the revolver guy is a hero. I ask you not to disrespect his name or mine, should you do so. I have no qualms about sparing the great redeemer the trouble of waiting for judgement day."

It's quite terrifying when something so grim is said with so casual a tone. Team Rocket and included company were startled by the declaration, this figure had threatened murder on three Rocket members. Worried, Rollerblades had a better plan in place that would result in nobody getting hurt or even killed, well she did, until Jesse interrupted.

"You dare threaten us? The legendary Team Rocket?! I ought to show you how dangerous we really are! James, get ready for a battle!"

"I uhm...don't know Jesse, he looks tough. I mean really tough, Inkay would get pummeled!"

"Oh for the love of... Fine. I'll battle you myself!"

Ulysses was amused, this woman thought she could take him in close combat? Oh how wrong she was, with the fraction of a second, Ulysses wielded an oaken staff with a golden eagle atop it. Old glory was her name, carried through countless battles and ending the lives of many an unfortunate victim, one more was sure to meet her beak and add to her grim list of achievements.

Rollerblades and James were shocked, this madman actually thought they meant human combat! No doubt this guy would more than likely kill Jesse in a heartbeat. Speaking of Jesse, she instantly unleashed her Gourgeist at Ulysses. Ulysses marveled at the tech, so they kept these creatures inside a containment unit? Interesting premise, a shame it would be a short-lived thought, in a moment of confusion, two figures stepped in front of Ulysses, signaling him to lower his weapon, it was Sawk and Throh, no doubt that they wanted to test their skills in an actual match.

"Very well, you're lucky you red-haired banshee, you get to live another day. These two followers of mine wish to battle you in my place, would you accept that rather than my proposition? Pick wisely, it means your life."

Jesse was undeniably relieved, she was too beautiful (VAIN) to pass on this early, she had then signaled to James to help her.

"Well...if it's all to help make the battle even, I have no choice. We choose to live..uhm thank you very much." James then went to unleash his Inkay, clearly happy to see its trainer, not so much to see him look so scared.

"James, I want you to take the Sawk. Gourgeist and I will handle the Throh."

James, merely nodding at the order, ordered his Inkay to attack, launching a tackle attack towards Sawk whilst Jesse ordered a shadow ball at Throh.

Ulysses didn't know he had to give orders, well, he had to work something on a whim, his mind was always sharp tactically. Instantly, he worked out a plan.

"Red. dodge as best as you can towards the left. I want you to grab the squid, toss it over to Blue, let him take aim at the floating pumpkin."

Sawk and Throh figured this guy had something planned, and sure enough, Throh had dodged shadow ball, jumping over to the left hand side of the battleground, the stocky red grappler had barely managed to get a grip on the now halted Inkay, now trying to use tackle, but to no avail, Inkay was then hurled over to Sawk. It was at that point that the poor little squid knew what was happening, at the moment, Ulysses waited until the opportunity presented itself. Almost at the right angle, not a few seconds later, Gourgeist was right in the center of his metaphorical crosshairs.

"Now Blue, punch it with all you have."

With a simple nod of recognition, Sawk pushed into a grounded fighting stance, readied his right fist while holding the left one in an open palm, in an instant, the squid was barrelling towards the pumpkin at a breakneck speed. Ultimately causing both of them to faint.

"My little Inkay! Are you okay?"

"Urgh. You did your best Gourgeist. I couldn't have asked for better, considering the circumstances."

"Can it you two! We're gettin' outta here!"

Rollerblades stood quietly, this guy knew his physics, either that or he was as lucky as the Pallet Town Kid. Ulysses noticed a crowd was forming, and prepared to leave, that was before Rollerblades popped up in front of him.

"Hey guy! Nice job showing those Rockets who's boss, name's Korrina. I'm the gym leader."

"Gym leader? Do explain." By the time Ulysses turned around, those three idiots were nowhere to be found, he felt this was a common occurrence for some poor souls around here.

"Yeah. I handle gym battles and handing out badges, you seem a bit too old to battle, but I'd be more than happy to offer you a badge as a token of gratitude, those creeps are always slinking around, in fact, how would you like to bat-"

"I do not accept such..childish offers. I'm on a journey young girl, not a field trip."

"Oh really? What makes you think I can't handle whatever you can?"

"If you spent even half a day in the Divide, it would swallow you whole, leaving nothing but your dusted bones and final screams of anguish."

Korrina shuddered, whoever this guy was, he was one tough cookie, that or he was one who hyped everything up.

"Well...maybe I can at least help you, you don't seem like you know where you're going."

"That's correct...I honestly have no general direction of where I am."

"Tell ya what, follow me. I know a kiosk that sells a bunch of maps for any occasion, a simple guides map is pretty handy for anyone that visits."

"Very well. Lead the way..."

"Korrina, pleased to meet ya Mr. Ulysses."

Ulysses hated peppy attitudes, happiness was almost non-existent in the Legion, but then again, trees and were a rarity back home too, and there's plenty of that around here. Plus, he just had to offer the smallest of smiles at the scene that lay before him, the town was alive, not with old-war ghosts or artifacts, but with the smiling faces of many a man, woman and child.

Another thought crossed Ulysses' mind, what's becoming of Big Mountain? Is it safe? Ulysses had half a mind to return to the complex, but he needed to know his surroundings first, the lab would be fine in the hands of Six.

But there was still the feeling that something was going terribly wrong.


	17. I Me Mine

_"I would rather live a short life of glory than a long one of obscurity."_

Alexander The Great

* * *

Dateline: Midnight  
Locaton: Big Mountain

* * *

Upon the howitzers of Big Mountain stood two figures, one a lawbringer, a messiah of peace and unity of an existing world; the other the exact opposite, a self-proclaimed father to a new world, one without chaos or human indignity, a man whose heart all but darkened by passionately percieved views of the world at large.

Amongst the buildings not encroached by fire or destruction, several cyber-dogs had gone to nurse injuries, or to receive assistance from robotic helpers, Six's two companions stood by his side and prepared for the worst.

But it never came. The only barrier between the Courier and the leader of Flare was silence, silence that was broken when Lysandre spoke.

"I must admit guardian, if I had one hundred of your kind. I could take over any region, from Unova all the way to the Orange Archipelago. I wouldn't even need your complex to carve a new world order."

Six stepped forward slightly, super sledge in hand. "What exactly are you getting at? What do you want even want from us?"

"Please spare me your woes. I brought your complex here for a reason. I just didn't expect the countless amounts of resources that I had to pour out of Flare's reserves to claim it."

"It was you? You're the one who brought us here..So that drone-"

"Was property of Team Flare, a test in quantum teleportation according to my chief scientist, a shame it brought a dump to Kalos, but underneath garbage is sure to be something of value."

"No, no no no, you don't understand, this place was inside a crater for a reason."

"Oh? Do tell, it's not like it matters anyway, but I do feel the need to hear a story once in a while."

"If it's anything to you, this place used to be under a mountain, then one of the docs blew the mountain apart, hence it was in a crater when you last saw it. There are things here that even the scientists wouldn't dispel out to the world, things that they shouldn't have created."

"It doesn't matter, you have two choices guardian, surrender or face the wrath of Z2!"

Lysandre held the cylinder in his hand, with blinking plant cell still housed inside.

"Listen to me buddy, you don't know what you're stepping into, this place houses experiments the likes of which that no sane man should ever lay eyes on. I know this because I guarded the damn place!"

Six steeled himself for a fight he knew would result in some severe injury, luckily he wasn't alone, our friendly cazador and quilladin joined alongside the courier, hellbent on defending against the maniacal Lysandre.

"*Sigh* I was hoping we could force your surrender, but an unmarked grave for three will have to suffice, gentlemen, back away. I'm releasing Z2."

The moment Lysandre released the green cell, hundreds of others appeared across the complex floor, surprising our trio of guardians and alerting the Tank to a severe threat.

* * *

The lab stood silent, staring at the footage outside their doors, Dr. Zero felt sick in his sensory glands, things weren't looking too good for everyone's favorite courier.

"Dala, what the hell's happening?!"

"It appears, Zero, that the release of that specimen in the jar caused some sort of chain reaction, suffice to say but I'm worried, I've a theory that...it's going to form a much bigger threat.."

* * *

Back outside, Six saw the plant cells gathering together, eventually forming a much larger entity, that of a dog, terrifyingly silent, clearly awaiting orders.

"Z2, attack the guardian."

The black and green canine let out a roar that could easily be heard for miles, and for one certain creature, this signaled an emergency.

Six gathered himself, preparing to fight against the combined force of cells, Z2 charged head-on to Six, taking him by surprise. Six dodged as quickly as he could, but agility wasn't the guys strong point, he saw several mercs move their positions to flank him.

"Gentlemen, stand down, you needn't assist Z2."

The mercs started movement back to their evac point, it was just Six, Lysandre and their respective parties now, save for the few grunts who managed to survive the meat grinder that was Big Mountain.

Six was in trouble, either this guy had too much confidence, or he had something special just for the courier. William tried to assist, throwing himself into the air and curling his body up, almost immediately he was rolling towards the collection of Zygarde cells, just barely missing, the dog retaliated by causing parts of the ground underneath to crumble.

"Jesus H. Christ! The damned thing causes earthquakes?!"

"Obviously you've never seen a pokemon battle, have you guardian? Who am I kidding, you let the pokemon take command on its own."

This guy was getting on Six's nerves, he figured he might have a chance to strike at the man, Z2 sensed this, immediately blocking the way to an easy win. Six had to fight the beast, there was no way out of this one.

Six made a forward hammer swing, smashing a concrete pillar in the process whilst missing Z2, the dog bit into Six's arm, causing untold pain to the courier, Roxie had flown up, preparing to stab Z2 with her bottom stinger. She dived in, hitting the creature somewhere around the neck, the beast let out an unearthly roar, more akin to a super mutant behemoth than any normal animal, the beast jumped back and opened its mouth, Six believed that Z2 was prepared to let out another roar, but a roar it was not. Instead, it was a blast of violet colored fire, streaming straight for the crew.

...

...

The blast never connected, the attack repelled by some unknown force in the front of the courier, in front of Six stood a stag glimmering in colors not even imaginable in the wasteland, the animal had repelled the blast with some form of force field, shimmering in a glossy hue.

Lysandre never expected the appearance of Xerneas itself, nor did he expect Z2 to break apart soon afte , several of the grunts who stayed behind to observe the fight distracted Xerneas and our courier, eventually allowing their escape from the disastrous coup d'etat

Six was in a daze, he had just finished one of the most harrowing battles of his life, now facing the massive creature in front of him, it appeared a lot more clearer now.

It stood as tall as his power armor, the antlers even more so, this thing had to be the height of a truck! the front half was blue in appearance, with the back half appearing a midnight black, the creature just stared back at him, its antlers glowing a myriad of colorful hues. Time to thank the nice deer deity, don't look like an idiot Six.

"Huh, so that's what a deer looks like in person huh? I've only seen your species in books."

"I'm not just a simple deer."

"You know, that's funny, I could've sworn I thought I heard something talk to-"

"It is I, Xerneas, you dunce, you have no idea what you've brought upon yourself have you?"

The voice was talking in a masculine tone, clearly chastising the courier for reasons unknown to him, Six, on the other hand, figured he was slowly succumbing to Wild Wasteland Syndrome, the dizziness didn't help either.

"I..uhm..ugh Christ, I feel like I migh-"

*THUMP*

Six slammed to the ground, clearly exhausted after the days events, the little quilladin and curious cazador came up to the deer, with Roxie speaking first.

"So...uhm..are you some kind of god?"

"A deity, not a god nor a goddess, a deity, no one ever gets it righ-."

"I really don't care, look, do you mind helping the human out? Poor guy just fought against an army."

"I know. I saw the terrible bloodshed from upon a knoll in the northwest."

William had to interrupt, annoyance clear in his voice.

"And you didn't think to help? You could've made sure that no one had to die, my pack always spoke of you as an awe-inspiring apostle to Arceus, where's that awe-inspiring power at?"

"I arrived when the time was right and just in accordance with the prophecy. I hold no ang-"

Roxie interrupted the deer.

"Hold on for a second, prophecy? Didn't think we were going into some sort of spiritual brahmin dung here."

"Firstly. I haven't the slightest clue of what you've just said, but nevertheless, your human stands in accordance with a prophecy, one that can either condemn or protect the region known as Kalos."

"That's fine and dandy and all, but could you help us get this guy to that building over there? We can discuss this later."

With a sigh, the stag merely nodded, hoisting the courier up upon its antlers, and proceeded to move towards the Think Tank, the sun now rising from the east, preparing itself to smile upon the faces of many a Kalosian, and perhaps even a former Legionnaire as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, near Shalour city, our good friend Ulysses had awoken in a hotel amongst rumors of a series of explosions near the Pomace Mountains, the media tried to assure the public that it was merely a series of blasts from a newly-constructed mine, urging travelers not to stray too far from the treaded paths for fears of robbers and bandits.

Ulysses had been given a free room for the night by a hotel owner, thankful to see Team Rocket get beaten, it had been a long time since Ulysses had slept in a bed so comfortable, usually a straw mat or even the occasional bedroll was the best luxury that the wasteland could provide, his team members were most likely downstairs, enjoying an equally free meal.

Leaving the room, Ulysses went downstairs into the built-in diner, a classical themed room that could easily house twenty customers, today though, there were no more than around five people eating breakfast.

Ulysses was astounded to see what counted as a meal, several eggs and a piece of toast alongside a glass of juice, much better than a can of beans and Cram.

Taking a bite out of an egg, Ulysses finally let a smile grow on his face, actual non-radiated food, so this is what the pre-war populace ate. Ulysses looked towards his followers, all three were enjoying some form dried food, and all three clearly liked it. Ulysses noticed that the juice had a sour taste to it. He loved it, it reminded him somewhat of a sweeter Nuka-Cola Quantum.

Finishing the food, Ulysses took to the map given by Korrina yesterday, observing the map, it appeared that Route 12 proceeding to a Coumarine City was the next destination.

Proceeding to leave the hotel, Ulysses thanked the owners for the delicious meal, and was almost out the door before some young child came up to him.

"Hey mister! I noticed your Gengar, how would you feel about a trade?"

"Trade? For what?"

"For my rattata of course."

Looking down, Ulysses noticed a purple rat thing, clearly bored of being offered as a trading item.

"Kid, if there's one thing to learn, it's that you should never give away a living thing for nothing less than a truly serious reason, what do you want to trade him for?" Ulysses was now down to the kids height.

"Well..I feel like he's too weak. I want something stronger, I want something like that Gengar."

"It isn't about strength young one, you who does not know what strength is, there is physical, then there is mental, a child like you should train mentally, prepare for challenges instead of facing them head-on, Rome wasn't built in day as they say."

"What's a Rome?"

"Nevermind that, how long have you been traveling?"

"About three days..."

"Keep trying, eventually you'll remember the words I've spoken, you have a whole life to experience, don't mess up by trading for short-term gain."

"I guess you're right, alright rattata, I'll stop trying to trade you, because I'm going to make sure you're top percentage, the rattata of all rattata's."

"Wait that wasn't...Nevermind, you'll learn I guess."

Ulysses and company prepared to leave, unaware of the company they're bound to meet.

* * *

Somewhere inside a helicopter sat the remaining mercs and Team Flare's ambiguous leader, Lysandre, reeling from the disaster that struck his corporation not even hours ago.

Lysandre was never one who retreated from an average battle. This battle, however, turned into a rather grim encounter, reminding the leader of Team Flare that even the greatest have to give up at some point, thankfully, his attack did claim some merit. One of his teams had uncovered numerous containers filled with some form of alloy titled 'Saturnite'. The discovery pertaining to the manufacturing of several highly-lethal toxins was sure to sell on the black market, what really held his interest was the discovery of man-made atomic devices, capable of leveling entire cities with the push of a single button. The landscape he observed from his desk to the drone several days ago must've been the resulting aftermath of such a scenario. Imagine the power he could hold with just one of those weapons! He could bring an entire region to its knees at the threat of total destruction, the crown jewels of each region could be eradicated in a moments notice, signaling an immediate rise to power.

The uncovering of various materials and alloys could allow Lysandre to not just rebuild an ultimate weapon, he could forge his own! Lysandre just needed to wait until the time was just right.


	18. Rise of Gannon

Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait, company's new dispatcher kept messing up our delivery orders. I ended up taking another drivers delivery due to said mix-up, had to pull double shifts as a result. Nevertheless, enjoy the double.

 _"The good life is one that is inspired by love and guided by knowledge."_

Bertrand Russell

* * *

Dateline: Morning

Location: Lumiose City Laboratory

* * *

Arcade Gannon was slowly getting used to the way things ran around here, less like a well-maintained Corvega engine and more like a slowed-down assembly line, the pace around here was relaxed and refreshing compared to the rather fast-working members of the Followers. Arcade wasn't saying he didn't like the former denizens of the Boneyard, he just didn't agree with some of their ideals, there are times when people had to die in order for there to be peace, a shame they didn't put trust in his ideology, c'est la vie.

Arcade's first day on the spot was a rather strange introduction to the world of pokemon, his co-workers consisted of creatures that only spoke their names, luckily hand motion is a universal language. The Lilligant, as it was known, had shown our favorite warrior scientist how to properly water plants, as well as point out the differing berries and leaves that were starting to bloom, to say Gannon was amazed is an understatement, he had never seen so much greenery before, it took all of his strength not to flop down to the ground to feel the softness of grass, he was soon broken out of his train of thought by Lilligant.

"Lill? Lilligant lil."

"Huh wha? Oh, yes I'm perfectly fine, just amazed at all the varieties of..none-dangerous plant life that lives here, quite a marvel to be honest."

Flabebe had just finished assisting any of the more elderly pokemon with any problems whilst helping any of the newly sprouted infants in gathering the correct amount of nutrients, it appeared these two had been here much longer than Gannon thought, several moments later, a figure popped up from the entrance.

Into the botanist's dome walked a man with jet-black hair, obviously around Arcade's age, with some moderate stubble on his face. The man's shirt was rolled up around the sleeves and opened to reveal a blue long-sleeve button up shirt. This man was the famed Professor Sycamore, knower of all things regarding mega-evolution and the one in charge of giving starting trainers their pokemon after turning 10, he turned his attention to Arcade, raising at eyebrow at the new hiree.

"So you must be Arcade Gannon? I'm Professor Sycamore, head researcher of this lab and top professor in the Kalos Region, tell me, how experienced are you in field work?"

Strange question, Arcade thought, maybe the guy needs some boots on the ground? Count him in.

"Well I can handle just about anything thrown at me, what sort of field work are you suggesting?"

"We've recently come across a group of unknown berries and herbs, unfortunately our field worker had a run-in with some Graveler during a territorial scuffle with some other pokemon, I heard about how well you did on your first day in. I also noticed that you probably aren't the type who likes being indoors all day."

"Well...there's no mistaking that I prefer more open spaces, but I'm not complaining either way."

"Hmmm, you told my receptionist that you handled medical compounds and herbs, correct?"

Arcade nodded, not knowing where Sycamore was going with this.

"Seeing as there are some dangerous pokemon in that area, you should be able to assist any trainers that have poisoned and injured pokemon, same case if they themselves are hurt or poisoned in kind."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Sending me out there like that alone wou-"

"I wasn't finished, you would have a traveling companion as well, one of the centers in town recently closed down due to lack of funding from the League, The one Audino working there as a healer volunteered her services to our lab. I would like both you and her to both form a friendship. I'm sure you two would get along perfectly."

"That's not the only reason is it?"

"No, there's no doubt that there's been an increase in poisoned pokemon recently, the centers can't handle the demand, as a result, some have suffered significant damage and, Arceus rest their souls, death in some cases. These herbs seem similar in color to those used in paralysis potions, and I'm shorthanded as it is right now. So I ask you, would you consider this?"

On one hand, Arcade could see what this world offers, the thoughts of poisoning didn't sound too optimistic though, but a doctor and a nurse might handle anything that came their way...right?

"Alright Professor. I think I can work with that, when do you want me to leave? I could go immediately seeing as I only have the clothes on my back really."

"Well we'd need to gather some packing equipment and necessary potions, we also need to give you such items like a radio and map."

"Question, where exactly will I be going?"

"Ah, excellent question! Thank you for reminding me, you'll be going to Kalos Route 13, our injured worker marked the area with a large blue sign signifying that the site is under the responsibility of the Pokemon Research Foundation, you can't miss it, we have most of the gear."

"Well I'll let you gather everything you need, when will I meet my partner? This..I-didn't-know?"

"Audino, and she's actually in the lobby, why not go and say hello?"

Taking this as Sycamore's way of saying 'get the hell out of my laboratory before you melt something else", Arcade took to the lobby to find a medium-sized pink and cream colored marshmallow on legs, the thing was adorable. The Audino had ears that could only be classified as fluffy, with feelers attuned to act as stethoscopes. Audino looked at Gannon with curious blue eyes, big ones, having a diameter that dinner plates would clearly be envious of!

"Aud, Audino?"

This thing was surely going to give Gannon diabetes faster than a twelve-pack of Sunset Sasparilla. How come everything around here is armed with the cuteness factor? Before Arcade could react, our happy-go-lucky and slightly womanizing pokemon professor walked in.

"Audino. I'd like you to meet your new partner, Arcade Gannon, you and him are both trained in medicine, therefore it's only natural to put you two together to create twice the healing power!"

This guy should've been a politician, he could easily get anyone to do his bidding with a series of _**rousing**_ speeches.

"Professor, are you sure we're cut out for this assignment? Specifically me of course. I have absolutely no knowledge about your regions natural plant life."

"Well Audino will gladly help you out, she's an expert on such a subject, right Audino?"

She gave a nod and a calm smile, one could bet that even her war face could melt all but the coldest of hearts. Arcade felt he had no choice, better than being in Vegas at least, none of those weird Securitrons roaming about. Gah, getting off topic.

"Well...if you put it that way. I suppose I'm ready...But wai-"

"Perfect! I have everything ready for you and your companion...I also need you sign this."

The professor handed Arcade a clipboard with several pages on it.

"What is this?"

"It's a liability agreement, in the event that you are injured, burned, poisoned, struck by lightning, set afire or incur the wrath of Darkrai, then this document signifies that we are not at fault in the case of said injuries or kidnapping."

"You've got to be kidding me...wait, kidnapping?"

"That's right, Team Flare has been more active as of late, in fact, several of their grunts were seized and arrested while entering Shalour City this morning, according to our resident Jenny, one of them was going on about some guy wearing heavy metal armor and armed with a sledgehammer.."

This struck a chord in Gannon, sledgehammer and metal armor? Sounds like the courier.

"Do they know where they were coming from?"

"Hardly any of them even spoke, most were apparently too shaken and terrified to even blink, but now I'm getting off track."

"You know, for a professor, you sure do know what's going on in the world."

"Well of course, as a professor in the studies of pokemon. I have reclamation as one the higher authoritative powers in the region."

"That...makes sense I guess." Not really, but for the sake of plot, it shall.

"Well, I've just gotten word that your gear is ready, now remember, Route 13 towards Coumarine City, afterwards, you can go to the city and meet Ramos, the elderly gentleman you were acquainted with yesterday, he'll offload the natural medicines, and return here after a days rest. Sound good?"

It was only a search and deliver objective, how hard could it be?

"Very well, you've got yourself a field agent."

After Gannon finished his sentence, a lab assistant walked in carrying a small pack and some unknown electronics.

"Here is everything you need. I've no doubt that you can handle yourself out there, check to see if anything is missing."

Checking the pack revealed some se;f-heating meals, several packs of poke-chow for the walking pillow and several other miscellaneous items of interest, mainly food stuffs or water.

"What about the electronics? No need to tell me?"

"I'm sure you'll figure out what they do...oh! I almost forgot something, take this."

Sycamore handed Gannon some sort of red handheld device akin to an ancient PIP-Pad, just much less bulky.

"Thanks..erm..but what is it?"

"It's a PokeDex, it allows you to classify any pokemon with fractions of a second, try it on Audino."

Opening the ultra-thin tablet, Arcade was greeted with a holographic blue interface, he then pointed the device towards Audino, and was greeted with a synthesized feminine voice.

" _Audino, the Hearing Pokémon. Audino can assess a Pokémon's overall physical condition and mood using its ears_. "

Well that was interesting, so the walking poof-ball can sense feeling and physical condition? Hell of a sixth sense if there ever was one.

"Well. I guess we should be going...how do we get out of here?"

"Ah yes, forgot you were new here, just take this ticket, the Gogoat Express will take you to the western entrance, just follow the trail that reads as Route 13, you can't miss it."

* * *

Leaving the Lab, Arcade was greeted by a giant mountain goat covered in leaves and fur.

"So...do I just jump on?"

The Gogoat merely nodded, Arcade felt the need to know what this thing was.

" _Gogoat, the Mount Pokémon and the evolved form of Skiddo. Gogoat is able to sense its Trainer's feelings by detecting small changes in the grip on its horns. This allows both Trainer and Pokémon to move together as one."_

"Ugh...why does everything have a sixth sense around here? You know what. Forget it, let's...just go."

Trying his damnedest to jump onto the massive creature, Arcade was failing badly, especially compared to Audino, who merely just hopped on at her first try.

"Show-offish marshmallow thing..."

Audino merely grinned, this guy was sure to be a laugh, giggling slightly, she soon noticed Sycamore leaving the lab.

"Wait, Arcade, one more thing, take these with you."

Handing our favorite wasteland doc two pokeballs, Arcade was confused, he was a doctor, why would he need a pair of balls?...You know what, scratch that, we're trying the story as Teen as possible. We aren't going any deeper Leo.

"What exactly are these?"

"These hold the Lilligant and Flabebe you were working with, they volunteered to come along."

"Why? What about that flower dome?"

"I've already put some of the workers to work in the dome, it'll be fine, besides, it's best to stay safe at all times. Three well-trained pokemon can handle any Graveler, Beedrill or anything else that comes their way."

"Well...gah, why the hell not."

Taking the pokeballs, Gannon meddled with one, eventually opening it to reveal Lilligant, the other holding Flabebe in a dream-like stance that was soon broken rather rudely a la throwing the ball at a nearby stranger by accident. Arcade prepared to set off, unaware that he could've saved space on the already crowded Gogoat by warping the creatures back into their balls.

Seeing the four set off towards the west, Sycamore mused to himself.

"I'd better call one of the Jennies to watch Arcade. I have a feeling this..scientist? Yeah, scientist, I have a feeling this scientist of some sort could destroy more than a lightpost and my favorite cafe... They had such good croissants too..."

With that, he set back into the lab, no doubt to uncover the many secrets of the Pokemon World.


	19. Gannon in D: Also, The Rest of The World

" _Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."_

Albert Einstein

* * *

We observe everybody's favorite doctor struggling to keep aboard the Gogoat express, eventually reaching the southern gate and stepping off. With Gannon and Company on their way to Route 13 to collect some sort of rare medicinal plant that aids in curing poisonous ailments, Gannon felt the need to speak up.

"So does anyone know about this 'Route 13' and the area around it? I'm sure at least one of you knows the area...right?

Only the Audino nodded her head, she had assisted one of the Joys in gathering berries and herbs in order to craft varying sprays or potions, the area around Route 13 was mainly a desert, save for the occasional oasis where their plant was sure to be at.

Trekking along for several hours, our four **heroic** warriors eventually reached the area they were looking for, it was mainly a desert going for quite some distance, this aggravated Gannon to no end.

"Gah Christ. It's the Mojave all over again, and I was just getting used to the smell of trees and grass to."

The three pokemon at his side were confused, what was a Mojave? Was it something like this? Bah, no matter, they didn't have time to dwell for they noticed a large oasis towards the northwest. Berries and trees grew all around the large pond and several pokemon species appeared to be interacting with each other close by.

Upon closer inspection, Gannon found a large blue sign with a letter P in the middle, this must've been the site that Sycamore was talking about, but that also meant that danger was quite possibly close by as well.

"Alright guys, this seems to the be the place, let's take a break and search the area, we're looking for..." Gannon took out the the PokeDex and read a simple description of the object they were looking for "A green berry and equally green root fixtures, should be simple enough."

With a nod, the three pokemon set out across the large oasis to search for said berries and herbs, eventually coming into contact with the territorial herd of Graveler that Sycamore was talking about.

Graveler can only be described as walking rocks, at least in Gannon's sense, that's it, they have a head akin to that of a snakes, so they're snake boulder creatures, this place was strange, even compared to the Mojave.

"Well...I'm..not really sure what to do here...look, we just want to gather some berries and herbs, is...that ok?"

The Lilligant decided to play mediator, speaking to the Graveler horde in order to make light of the situation, Audino was prepared in all her adorable determination to defend against the boulders...Flabebe...well she just went and found some interesting flowers that needed her attention.

The alpha male in the Graveler horde stood at a height around Gannon's chin, quite a tall creature that was sure to prove dangerous if provoked. However, it was soon realized that this pack of Graveler, who admitted they attacked the last poor sap that passed through here, had fought off several pokemon and grunts from Team Flare that were attempting an easy steal of food and herbs, an unnecessarily obtuse plan when they could simply rob a store or market.

After finally settling the issue at hand, Lilligant informed the group that the Graveler horde would allow access to the items they were searching for.

"Well hell, not sure what you did, but good work. We just need to gather up the supplies and head over to Cow-marine city, come on guys, we're mooo-ving on up in the world." (Lord these puns are taking me out)

All three just sweatdropped, Gannon was an individual without peer in the field of medicine, no doubt about that, but his jokes and puns were about as bad as the classic Team Rocket motto (Come on, it starts to get old after over 900 episodes and 20-something movies).

Perched over on a nearby mesa, two individuals were snooping on Gannon and Company, looking through two sets of binoculars were two Team Flare grunts, two equally idiotic grunts who figured they could steal from this supposedly harmless scientist.

"You sure we can take this guy on?"

"Of course we can, he looks like he couldn't hurt a fly."

"What about his pokemon? They look pretty challenging for a bunch of fairies and plant-types."

"We'll just snatch them and sign 'em off as research volunteers."

Confirming their plans to head off Gannon at the next pass, the two grunts unknowingly prepared themselves for a closed-casket funeral.

Gathering the massed supply of berries and roots, Gannon prepared to set off towards Coumarine City, eventually reaching a small canyon, Gannon took out the Dex, opening a map to show that they were close to leaving the badlands. Just as soon as he closed the Dex, however, two dapperly-dressed gentlement apeared about of nowhere. Gannon wondered loudly who these people were.

"Hey there...uhm...you two need any help? Oh! Maybe you two are lost? I can point you to the nearest road if you want me to."

The two grunts were astounded, many people knew and feared the red formal suits of Team Flare! How dare this man not cower in humiliating fear, one grunt was barely able to speak without yelling, gritting his teeth in the process.

"Of course not! We demand you hand over all your belongings in the name of Team Flare."

"Ah. I see, so your bandits, highwaymen perhaps?"

"No you idiot! We're Team Flare, the most bad-ass criminal organization in the region."

"Well that's just wonderful!"

The grunts stood there, stupified by his cheerful demeanor in the face of certain danger.

"Why is that wonderful?"

Both grunts stood confused, that is, until Gannon pulled out his trusted Plasma Defender, quickly checking the ammunition in it.

"I've always loved criminals, they have a sporadic mindset and severe Napoleon complex, without said height restrictions of course, that I've always wanted to understand, sadly, they usually end up dead before I can understand anything that comes out of their mouths."

"Just quit talking! Good Arceus you're annoying, either give us your goods, or face the wrath of Team Flare!"

With that threat uttered, all three of Gannon's team assembled into as best a combat formation as they could.

"Ahem, ladies, would you mind if I handled this alone?" Signaling to the pokemon behind him, obviously ready for battle, they all stood confused, Flabebe was slightly worried for Arcade whilst Audino simply stood shocked, Lilligant simply looked bored.

Gannon's pistol turned on with a small hum of energy, preparing to take aim at a nearby cactus, one of the two grunts had to ask what this man was doing, before he could, he heard a blast energy whiz past him. Looking back, he was surprised to see, not a cactus, but rather a pile of greenish goop where said cactus once was.

"Why it's simple, I'm preparing to sign off for your funerals. I'm a doctor of course, but I also believe that in order to save a life" *CLICK* "You have to take one, luckily I'm feeling like I might be getting a two for one special here."

Both grunts were terrified, never had anyone pulled a gun on them before, much less a cheerful doctor.

"N-n-n-now l-l-look man, we're sorry for bothering you, w-we were just about to leave, right?"

"Right...let's leave...where's the highway again?"

"It's just south of here, you gentlemen have a nice day, alright?"

With that being said, Gannon simply laughed off the event, this place could be sorted out by the NCR in days with no problem. He came to wonder though, where was the law enforcement or even the military for that matter? Surely there must be some form of law enforcement aside from those bumbling police back in Lumiose.

Continuing his trek across the badlands, our good doctor soon came upon green grass, a sign that he was out of the deserts. His assumptions were correct as he happened upon a city by the coast.

A glistening, shining jewel glimmered on the northwestern coast of Kalos, this was Coumarine City, famous for its mild weather and beautiful coast, venturing into the city limits, Gannon was astounded by the beauty of it all, the Old World surely had nothing on something like this!

Soon Gannon came upon an elderly man, albeit one who looked somewhat familiar, sitting on a park bench near the square, our doctor was lost, so maybe the old man could help out.

"Excuse me sir...I'm searching for Ramos of Coumarine City, would you know where I could find him?"

"He's usually up at his ranch at the top of the hill young man, however, he isn't there today."

"Well...ugh..thank you any-"

"Because you're talking to him youngster! Have you no manners in speaking with your elders?"

"My apologi- Wait, you were one of the people at the botany dome yesterday!"

"Oy, and they say MY memory is bad, but all that aside youngster, what can I do ya for?"

"Huh? Oh right, I have some berries and roots from Route 13, I'm the field worker assigned by Sycamore."

"Sycamore eh? Well come on lad, we've work to do."

"What exactly are we doing with this stuff? I can imagine it'll be helpful, but I'd like to know things before they happen."

"Simple my boy, we're going to plant them!"

All this work for planting a few berries and roots? Well at least he was getting paid by the hour...

"We're just going to plant them?"

"Not really..We're also going to make a rare Lum Berry Pie!"

"Lum Berry?"

"Those berries that you have are rare Lum Berries, known to heal any ailment that befalls you or your pokemon, very high in demand they are, so much so that they've almost disappeared from Kalos!"

"Over-reliance on a fruit? That's a first in my book personally."

"Well I'm sure there'll be a lot of firsts in your book Mr. Gannon, now please follow me, we've a dessert to fix!"

Arcade Gannon simply sighed, as did the pokemon behind him, they went through all that trouble just to plant some fruits and roots and make a pie, albeit a delicious one, but still a pie nevertheless.

* * *

Elsewhere, sporadic news reports headlined new information regarding the mysterious explosions near the Pomace Mountains, according to the anchor, an illegal mining operation had taken place as of several days ago, the assailants were believed to have either run off or had been killed by the unexpected blast.

In reality, something much darker was brewing, for one certain reporter in Lumiose, this simply was not enough, that blast was far too powerful to have been a simple mine explosion, and she figured that her main trophy headline-to-be, the one and only 'Geosenge Vigilante' was at the center of it all. Our reporter, one Alexa of Ash Ketchum fame, decided to call her gym leading sister, picking up a holo-caster, her call was answered just after the first ring.

"Hello? Ah, hey Lex. what's going on?"

"Listen Viola, I've just come across something big, something that would put me at the top at the Lumiose Press!"

"You said the same thing last week, remember the story of the Haunted Sewer? It ended up being a Muk with a bad stomach ache."

"I know I know, but listen. I'm preparing to head to the Pomace Mountains tomorrow. I want yo-"

"You're what?! Why would you even think about that sis? You could get seriously hurt."

"That's why I want you to come along with me, please? I won't ask you for anymore favors!"

"Fine... We have three days until the conference anyway. I'm bored anyway so it might be fun...maybe."

"Great! I'll see you in a few hours, meet me in Shalour City. I'm taking a cab up there to not spend a second behind!"

"You're really determined to get the full story huh?..."

Viola didn't need an answer, her sisters beaming face spoke volumes of her need to get the full story, whatever that full story was of course. With the disconnection of the call, she prepared for the adventure of her life, or it might just be another fluke, who knows for certain.

* * *

Dateline: 2286  
Location: Somewhere in the Mojave

* * *

Five figures stand around a holographic circular console, displaying an old three-dimensional plan of Big Mountain, one of the figures speaks in an elderly female voice.

"You don't think Gannon went there do you?"

Another voice, a more masculine tone, retorts.

"He had to, it's the only place that Courier went to Daisy, Gannon's kept tabs on him ever since the Dam for fear of losing the Mojave's only real hero."

Still another man speaks, this one in a calm deep manner.

"Johnson's right, Gannon must've left for that damned crater, it's been well over a week since we've seen any sign of 'em."

"So what do you old coots suggest we do? You know how dangerous it's been since the NCR sealed the deal with House. Got anything Kreger?"

"Well we could just fly in during the night, they can't see us very well in low-light and they sure as hell couldn't shoot us out of the sky, we've got a fully-armed vertibird that could take an entire battalion, all they have are caravans and the occasional patrol along the route."

"Never thought I'd be flying up in the old girl twice in a decade, what happens if we get fired upon when and if we reach the complex?"

Judah Kreger, captain of the Enclave Remnants, figured there was a solution in there somewhere.

"It's simple, the Vertibird is old-world technology, it should register on the radar systems as a friendly."

"And if it doesn't?"

"We just get blown out of the sky Dais', simple as that, we've already done our part for the world, we've gotta go sometime, if it happens, it happens, but I'd prefer going out with a bang."

"Hear hear! Finally something we can agree on."

None of the five members figured that no more words could be spoken on the matter, preparing themselves to lift off once more into the sky, the Remnants had several thoughts, was Gannon okay? Was the Courier okay? Is it possible they were dealing with something entirely out of their league?

* * *

The bets are set for another round, Lady Luck picks no favorites though some win more than others, but it's always the same in the end, the name of the game may change, but the game itself never truly changes even as time rolls on by.

One thing is for certain though; Some way or another, the house always win.


	20. Break On Through

_"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."_

Dwight Eisenhower

* * *

Dateline: Morning  
Location: Big Mountain Sink

* * *

Our courier was knocked out, clearly having been drained by the battle preceding the the moments he fell asleep, his companions were not amused by the creature who had helped him. In fact, this creature brought more questions than answers, for one certain cazador, this creature, known far and wide as the legendary Xerneas, had some answers that the entire complex needed.

'What do you mean you can't answer EVERY question?"

"I mean, you flying nuisance, that I can't answer every question. I need to answer only what the prophecy will allow."

"Prophecy-Smophecy, either you answer the questions or I stick your antlers where the sun don't shine."

"That doesnt't even make sense you prehistoric Venemoth!"

"The hell is that supposed to mean you glorified lawn ornament?!"

William the Quilladin was astounded by the argument, hardly anyone dared to fight against a legendary, even the most powerful of pokemon bowed in fear and respect to their glory...

Roxie wasn't one to mince words though, she told things as they were, William thought she was insane at this point, perhaps as nutty as a watchog that stood sentry too long. Nevertheless, she prepared to speak her mind against the massive deer.

'Either you tell us whatever you're telling him, or I sting your ass all the way to the Divide."

Xerneas was shocked, this creature..No, this monstrosity dares to defy them? This simply could not do.

"You understand you're challenging the power of a Legendary, don't you?"

Xerneas offered a wry smirk, signifying its victory against the Tarantula Hawk, but stood shocked at what Roxie said next.

"I could care less even if you were God himself! I don't like you, in fact I wouldn't even bother with you if it weren't for the fact that you saved our guardian."

"Guardian of what?"

"Guardian of this entire damned lab! For some wise legendary you surely are one of the dimmest atoms in the chamber."

William was terrified, Roxie was surely going to kill herself, and eventually he would be dead as well, here's hoping he wouldn't end up in the Distortion World.

...

No attack came, there was only laughter, laughter coming from Xerneas itself.

"He-he...hah, few have dared to challenge a legendary to their face, you are one who is quite the shock I must admit."

William spoke up timidly.

"So...you're not going to kill us and throw our souls to Giratina's Realm?"

"Of course not child, usually that was Yveltal's job, thankfully he's taken back to his rest...hopefully for eternity."

Roxie spoke next.

"I'm sure this Yveltal wasn't that bad...is he..or is it she?"

"We follow no gender, we are above that, as for Yveltal being dangerous...well, a misguided Hoopa summoned Yveltal and I, we nearly destroyed Dahara City alongside many other legendaries. It's a time I'd rather not think about."

"Sounds like a hell of a family reunion..."

"Yes..yes it was...Ah! Your friend is stirring."

Upon a queen-sized bed slept Six in all his slumbering *SNORE* wonderful *Sounds of logs being sawn* glory. Of course our courier was tired, the man just fought against soldiers that were as tough as Rangers! Slowly starting to stir, he almost reached for Muggy, prepared to throw him at the door where several figures stood and floated.

'Ech..*BLRUP*...eh wha-? Oh hey guys, what time is it?"

The deer simply replied.

"It's 11 AM, you've slept for some time now, more than adequate I would suppose."

"Hi talking deer, forgot you were real."

"I told you I'm no ordinary deer! I am Xerneas! Giver of Life and Guardian of Nature."

"And I'm Courier Six, Hero of The Mojave and champion poker player, know how to play?"

"I wouldn't waste my breath on simple games of luck, Mew always enjoyed such gimmicks though, I'm sure you two would get along juuuuuust fine..."

"Right...well..first question. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Ah finally, a smart question! I thought you humans were starting to lose brain cells."

"Jeesh, what took a piss in your Sugar Bombs this morning?"

"Stop going off track! I have an important message to tell you."

"Speak away. I've got all week."

Preparing to speak in the stereotypical dramatic voice that bears plotline thickening news, Xerneas motioned for toning down of lights to make things more dramatic, the light switches happily abided. Increasing Xerneas's Charisma as a result.

"Heed me human, you who are a part of the prophecy. You are heralded as the Guardian, he who protects the weak and defenseless against the strong and tyrannical, you are he who defends the Aura Guardian in his time of need! He who-"

"What's an Aura?"

"Not even letting me finish...how rude, aura is in every living thing, but very few can contain its power to be used as a tool and weapon, these few are usually pokemon such as Riolu and its evolved form of Lucario, though some humans can do the same with very hard training."

"Can you yourself detect aura?"

"Of course! Legendaries can sense any aura miles upon miles away...unfortunately, only your Quilladin has an aura in this entire complex."

"So I don't have an aura?"

"No...it's strange and only slightly terrifying. I fear that your sub-species may actually be IMMUNE to aura attacks...oh Arceus..why do these humans exist?"

"Hey! I'm happy being alive thank you, now continue your prophecy. I'm actually curious now."

"Very well, he who is the Desert Guardian, you are he who defends the Aura Guardian in his time of need, you shall not stand alone, from Arceus came these visions. One is as deadly with a syringe as he is with a weapon, another stood vigil upon massive canyons, watching over the burning ruins of a lost civilization. Then comes a group, a soaring eagle that glides across the sky, bringing eternal hellfire to its opponents down below, these three are your allies, worthwhile ones. Heed my warning courier, Team Flare has stolen something extremely dangerous and all of these forces coming into play will prove invaluable."

"What could they have stolen? They couldn't have gotten anything big...right?"

"You are wrong...Arceus spoke of clouds shaped as mushrooms encroaching the grandest cities across the globe, Lysandre wishes to create a new world, and he will happily forge one out of fire."

Mushroom clouds?...Oh no...no..

"Christ in a Corvega! He's going to destroy the entire planet!"

"You finally understand the situation? He also has one of the Zygarde as his personal weapon, you fared better than I thought when you faced it."

"Are you kidding? The thing nearly chomped on my Super Sledge like it was a chew toy!"

"You are unafraid, you clearly have a reason to have fought against a legendary in it's on right, besides, your hammer possibly being destroyed was the least of your worries...YOU could have been his chew toy."

"Thanks...makes me feel a lot better. And of course I have a reason to defend this place, do you really think I'm giving up so easily? I have reasons to protect Big Mountain, nothing that is built here ever leaves, and for good reason."

"I trust your judgement, but for now, we must plan our next move, no doubt that Lysandre as his team are planning their new world as I speak."

"Right, let me just get up and we ca-AGH Christ that hurts!"

Six fell back onto the bed, his leg was clearly swollen.

"Doesn't look to be fractured, spend some time waking up human, we have time for that at least."

* * *

Dateline: Morning  
Location: Route 12

* * *

Ulysses had left Shalour City to reach Route 13, according to several locals, it was mainly a desert, someplace familiar to him. Ulysses was concerned about the purplish stone found in the reflection cave, convinced it had something to do with Boris the Gengar.

"Gen? Gen-gengar."

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, just speculating on certain things. No need to worry. We surely can't be far from Coumarine at this rate."

Ulysses soon came upon four children and a yellow mouse by a river, discussing about some sort of conference, the mouse glanced across the river to look Ulysses in the eye.

"Pika?"

The yellow mouse pointed its trainers attention the route on the other side, revealing Ulysses' location, the former Legionnaire simply glared at the mouse, something about that thing didn't sit right with him. Soon the creatures apparent trainer, a raven-haired child wearing mainly blue and being no older than 14, spotted Ulysses and spoke to his other teammates, one young man in a jumpsuit, another rather fashionably dressed young woman and a young girl.

Eventually the youngest spoke out to Ulysses.

'Hey mister, you couldn't help us could you?"

"Bonnie! What have I told you about talking to strangers?"

'But Clemont...We need all the help we can get."

The other girl came up.

"She's right Clemont, besides, remember that we can't judge someone by appearance alone."

What was that supposed to mean? Ulysses wasn't that terrifying...was he?

"What do you kids need help with?"

The little girl beamed at Ulysses, then frowned again, remembering the reason they needed help.

"Team Rocket stole all of Ash's pokemon...well...except for Pikachu, we lost track of them..you couldn't help us could you?"

If there was one thing that got through Ulysses, it was children, even more so when it was children that weren't raised to kill and maim someone fifteen ways from Tuesday before the age of 12.

"Well...what does Team Rocket look like? I've experience as a tracker and have the eyes of an eagle."

"What's an eagle?"

"It's...Ugh..nevermind, do you have anything identifying them?"

"Well...oh! We have a wanted poster from Coumarine City, right Serena?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah we do, here you go sir."

Being handed the parchment, Ulysses almost suppressed a laugh...almost. It was said that all of the residents in the Mojave had suffered from an involuntary chill the moment Ulysses laughed, even Mr. House felt the chill all the way inside his little chamber that held his body.

"These...these Idiots are a criminal organization, *Snort* He-hehe..ahe-ha-ha! By god these morons couldn't even fight me properly, they hid behind a squid and a flying tree."

Raven-hair was surprised at that statement.

"Wait, you met them before?"

"Not even a full six hours ago in Shalour, these guys met a friend of mine farther south. They're apparently terrified of us both, it's fine by the both of us."

Little blonde ball of innocence spoke next.

"But why? You seem so nice, and you obviously have a great sense of humor! Everyone laughs at Team Rocket."

"I can't argue there, but anyway, so these idiots stole your...friends?"

Raven-hair nodded.

"That's right, my pokemon are my closest friends. I'd do anything for them!"

"Well..I respect that, come on then, we're going hunting.

Elsewhere in the forest, three morons just succeeded in their biggest grab yet, all but one of a certain twerps pokemon, a shame they couldn't capture the Pikachu, but a Greninja and Goodra were exremely valuable and rare pokemon to the right seller.

Or they would have been sold, were it not for the rustling in a set of bushes.

One of the three, identified as James, whispered to the nearby Jessie.

"You hear that Jess? Sounds like someone's close by."

"Must be that twerp...I'm not backing down that easily...I stole his pokemon fair and square!"

The third member, being Meowth, interjected.

"Exactly, fair and square, by being the lowlifes we are!"

"That doesn't help at all Meowth...some days I just wonder if we'll ever reach retirement like this."

"Jeesh James, you're a downer for sure, just be happy we got's da pokemon and we could get paid within the day as a result!"

An unknown voice interrupted the cat's speech.

"Not today you three, why is it that I always have to meet the worst that the world has to offer? Especially if the world's worst are you three idiots..."

That voice...it couldn't have been, he couldn't have gotten here that fast! Looking behind them, the trio saw a tall dark shadow flanked by two others, the tallest simply uttered out one word.

"Boo."

The trio screamed so loudly, that it's said even the deaf could hear for that moment in time.

The trio immediately ran towards the balloon, but not before Ulysses cut them off.

James went first, not noticing that a certain Gengar was nowhere to be found.

"Why are you torturing us? We just wanted to do our evil deed for the day!"

"By stealing a child's group of friends? Your ways remind me of the Legion, you're not worth the dirt I tread on."

At this statement Ulysses spit on the ground, to which Jesse immediately took offense.

"How dare you?! I'll have you know that we're the best rockets in business, in fact, we would happily battle you once more in a show of strength, right Ja-"

She didn't finish, as Ulysses, tired of the incessant nagging and chattering, silenced Jessie with a straight right hook to the face. Both Ulysses' and Team Rocket's parties stood shocked and bewildered.

"You...you dare? There's a law against that you creep! I could have you arreste-"

*Cling*

Old Glory was torn from her sheath, aimed straight at the terrified face of Jesse. Ulysses stood over her, a grimaced expression plastered on his face.

"I dare you to say another word, interesting fact, it is said in the old-world that 'He who dares, wins.' For you though, it goes as is, 'She who dares, dies.' So give me a reason to end you... One. Simple. Reason. Right here and now."

Jesse took notice of the pole aimed at her, the gold ornament offset by small splatters of possibly dried blood, this was no simple flag pole, it was used as a weapon for sure, and it appeared to be quite a deadly one.

While all this was occurring, Gengar had snuck past the incident, he respected his trainer...but he didn't approve of his methods. The man was too violent, but he supposed there had to be violent heroes to offset the violent villain...right? Moving on, Gengar was busy reclaiming the pokeballs that belonged to the raven-haired boy, taking the five, he snuck past once more, signaling to Ulysses that the deed was done. Being a ghost-type has perks.

"It seems I've no more time for you...leave..and if I ever see any of you three, pray to whatever deity it is that you pray to for a quick death."

With a smooth motion, Ulysses locked Old Glory back into her spot, awaiting the day when it is once again used in battle. Team Rocket immediately took to their...balloon? Lifting off into the air as quickly as three numbskulls could.

Ulysses walked towards the group of children, they had apparently left after the punch, not wanting to see any more than they already had.

"Boris, you have something to give the boy, right?"

"Gengar! Gen-gen-gar!"

In Boris's hand there were five pokeballs, each holding one of the Raven-haired boy's team.

"Thank you...I just..."

"You just what, child?"

"I just wish you didn't have to fight them..."

Ash was honestly scared, and he fought against legendaries! Yet a simple man scared him..but this is far from an ordinary man, this was Ulysses, the guy could scare an orange into slicing itself and tossing it's own pieces to the former Legionnaire to eat.

'They're criminals child, they deserved more than what I gave them."

"I have a name! It's Ash from Pallet Town, and even I wouldn't do that."

"And, pray tell, why not?"

"You're hurting more than just the criminals, you're also hurting families that rel on them. Some might be parents or siblings..."

The fashion girl simply stood shocked.

"Y'know Ash...that's honestly the deepest thing I've ever heard you say...bravo."

"Young Ash, the sooner you realize that our worlds are nothing alike, then the sooner you realize I did what I thought was right."

"So are you apologizing right now?"

"Not before the Divide skins me alive."

"Ugh...I'm not sure what that means...but thank you anyway.."

"You're welcome, and if you see the Courier, tell him I'll be waiting the City of Illumination."

"City of...oh you mean Lumiose City. Wait, how you know Si-"

"Not important, just tell him when you see him."

With that said, Ulysses took towards Coumarine City, straight towards a certain Wasteland doctor, who is also helping cook a Lum Berry pie.


	21. Let's Go Sunning

Author's note - Well, good news and bad news: Good news is that this story could either end with Kalos, or it can keep going to Alola. I don't know right now, so just give me an honest opinion on where this should go. This is clearly either going to be a first-time story or a Fallout-Pokemon Epic.

Now for the bad. Our boss had recently got caught in a case of bank fraud, thus the entire company's been foreclosed. Every driver, mechanic, loader and dispatcher lost their jobs, some being there for as long as thirty years. As a result. I've to put some more time into looking for another company that's marketing for truck drivers.

Ah well, enough on that, enjoy this chapter.

* * *

 _"Spirits see two paths, joining others. Bad path goes to bad shadows in bright area. Good path goes to bright place that was born of shadows."_

The Tribal Sulik

* * *

Courier Six was having a bad day, his leg healed up, but there was a clear hatred between Roxie and this 'Xerneas'..William looked like he had wandered too close to the fiends, he was scared beyond composure.

Xerneas interrupted Six's train of thought, clearly wishing to relay their own.

"You know human, I think I left out one little detail..."

"Oh wonderful! Care to explain?"

"Well...I cannot accompany you on this journey."

"You're funny, you know that? I could've sworn I just head you say that you can't help u-"

"I did indeed say that. This is a struggle that only you can accomplish with the help of your friends."

"You know that we don't come from a world infested with friendship..right?"

"Oh trust me, I'm well aware you barbarian, in fact I'm fearful of the fact that you might breed..in fact I fear that you might've bred already."

"Oh aren't you the charmer? Sorry. I don't roll with animals. I prefer something with two legs and speaks human...through the mouth mind you." Six making speaking motions with his hands

"I never said I found you appealing human."

Roxie felt it was time to buzz in (All puns intended) as usual.

"You really are a dim one aren't you?"

"This doesn't concern you bug."

Six just stood there, one minute he was berating the legendary, now Roxie was taking over, guess he's rubbing off on his team...all except for poor William, huddled into a corner. Six decided to waltz over to the armored shell.

"Hey buddy, you ok?"

"Quill? Din..."

"We're scaring you aren't we?...Don't worry, us arguing is actually how wastelanders show affection."

"Quilladin...Din quill?"

William just raised an eyebrow, oh how the wasteland must be full of fun and joy if this was a way to show kindness and friendship!

"Well at least Raul or Gannon isn't around, we'd have the entire hidden cache of whiskey here drunk by sundown..."

"Quill?"

"Oh right! They're two of my closest companions. Them, Whiskey Rose, Grandma Lily, hell even Old Rex before he went back to that big old kennel in the sky, we always joked around and berated each other at every chance we got. Wanna hear one of our old stories?"

"Quilladin!"

William perked up, he wanted to know more about his trainer, all the more reason to grow stronger himself.

"Well...let's just wait until those two stop arguing."

* * *

Looking through a camera in the Central Sink, five scientists observed a Cazador argue with a Technicolored Stag...things were getting stranger by the moment for sure.

Dr. Dala had sent for an air sample, with the stag emitting high levels of...what was supposedly harmless radiation, at least according to their geiger counters, the sample returned instantaneously.

"That can't be right...Doctor Borous, have you received the readings yet?"

"Indeed I have Dala, I'm as confused as you are, perhaps we should experiment with the sample?"

"What could we even gain from this? It's useless in my eyes."

"Imagine though, this creature is emitting similar levels to that of a coherent ghoul, if we can test the sample, then we might find a way to allow humanity to bypass most, if not all, of the dangerous radiation in the wastes!"

"By god you might have something, very well. What's Doctor Zero been working on?"

"From my perspective, he's trying to decipher that holding chamber that held the cell, though we don't have the cylinder itself, we can theorize on it's exact properties."

"Interesting...This place is amazing, is it not Klein?"

Klein, in all his studies, responded hastily...though something was off, he wasn't yelling, possibly thinking to himself more than just answering.

"Of course. Why..it's honestly such an amazing world..I feel inclined to actually leave the Tank for a few moments."

The Tank held a collective gasp, there very few times when they left as brains, in fact, they'd almost been killed before the courier came along, of course the lobotomites were no more and there was little to no danger outside at this point.

"Well...perhaps you might be right, but for now, we simply observe."

Borous felt accomplished, for as long as he could remember, he hated being stuck inside this metal prison.

"I knew you would agree sometime Dala, look, the creature is going towards the bipedal porcupine."

"I think they're called 'Quilladin' judging from their speech."

* * *

Back in the Sink, Six hadn't noticed a certain legendary lingering over him until it spoke.

"Trying to calm your Quilladin down?"

"Ga-Sweet Christ on hardtack! Don't scare me like that, why the hell are you so silent?"

"I'll have you know I have the grace of a ballerina, one of the few accomplishments you humans had the honor of creating yourselves."

"What's a ballerina?"

"You really don't-...you know what? Nevermind, for a hero you really are uncultured."

"Well you try coming from a world filled with giant scorpions and coyote snake monsters, tell me how you feel about culture when everything tries to kill ya."

"My my, aren't we violent?"

"I'll happily show you violence with the business end of a minigu...wait, that got ripped into scrap metal..no matter! I'll show you violence with the business end of a mini-nuke flying towards your face."

"Why would you ever want to do that?"

"Let's face it, you're pompous, you're mildly annoying and Roxie looks like she wants to roast you over a spit."

"Well I personally would love to have Arceus not bother with you humans..but Arceus, in all of their mighty glory, went on to declare that "The Aura Guardian saved the world ten-fold, surely humans aren't that bad."

"Who the hell is this Aura Guardian? You keep bringing them up, but who are they? I probably should know whose ass is clear from danger."

"The Guardian of Aura is one Ash Ketchum, pokemon master to be and overall lady's man."

"Wait, that black-haired kid? He couldn't be more than 14."

"And already he has several fan clubs devoted to him...Mew is even said to have his Indigo League battle on VHS."

"No, not that. I mean the fact that this kid has the entire world's safety in his hands has to be nothing short of painfully stressful."

"Well...the problem here is the fact that he isn't aware of his role in the world."

"Jeesh, the poor bastard, so what do you want me to do? Play the smallest violin in the world for him?"

"Accompany him on his jou-"

"Stopping you right there. I'm not leaving, this place needs as much defending as Old Fort Knox needed gold to look good in the papers."

"...huh?"

"I'm saying that I'm the Guardian for a reason, nothing you can say or do will convince me otherwise."

"I see...wait here."

"Where the hell do you think you're goi-"

*Blink*

In a bright white light, Xerneas disappeared, no one knew where it went except for us, because omniscience is awesome like that.

* * *

Xerneas reappeared in a temple, something sat upon a throne, a bright-grey creature, with an appearance to that of a mouthless llama and deep red eyes, glared at the Guardian of Nature and Life, the creature spoke in a commanding masculine tone.

"Has the human agreed to protect the Divine One?"

Xerneas shuddered, here goes nothing though.

"I'm sorry to say, Arceus, that the human is more troublesome than I thought. He's too dedicated to this research complex."

"As I figured...I have an idea, we could offer protection ourselves."

"Legendaries protecting a simple human construct? I have not heard of such a ploy, especially of you!"

"Silence yourself! We will not play a direct hand, for there are those who would still do our bidding for us, there is a pack of dragon-types loyal to our will that migrate nearby, call upon them, make your presence known."

"I...yes Arceus."

"Do not fail Xerneas, the world depends on Ash Ketchum for every chance to succeed."

* * *

Six was confused, the damned thing was gone! Maybe now he was finally free.

*Shing*

Nope, it was back, Six did all he could not to lament. Today was going so well, and here came Xerneas running back like a stray dog.

"I swear, why do you have to try to cause blindness every time you appear?!"

"It's a side-effect of being such an _**amazing**_ legendary."

"You're so full of yourself. You know that?"

Xerneas simply ignored Six, preparing to go outside.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Simple. You want protection for this place? I'm calling protection."

Xerneas let out a loud, shrill cry, a sort of call towards a group of pokemon in the distance. Nothing happened even after several moments.

"I think all you did was break some windows in the distance, bravo Xerneas...Brav-oh holy shit..."

In the air flew a group of five..six...nope it was eight...dragons? Orange in color and armed with tiny flapping wings: These were Dragonite, powerful psuedo-legendaries with incredible power and equally strong loyalty to any cause that interests them...Did I forget to mention that they were powerful?

Six was stupified, as were Roxie and William, Xerneas was pleased with itself, giving a small smirk in victory.

Checkmate human, can't get yourself out of this one.

"So...do you finally admit that I am the victor?"

"Whatever, so you called in some backup. Am I supposed to be scared?"

"These pokemon are known to fight to the death, once very popular opponents in colosseum battles, and they'll happily defend this...base for as long as you are gone."

By Arceus, Xerneas didn't expect an entire group of Dragonite, woodland pokemon perhaps..but dragons? Arceus was clearly serious on the matter at hand.

"Well...I don' have a choice do I?"

"Not really."

"Give me half a day then, some time to prepare my gear. I'm taking the full arsenal this time."

Full arsenal? Oh dear..this human was going to cause an uproar all across Kalos!...Well..it was for the sake of the world after all.

* * *

The Tank stood silent once more, this time in thought. On one hand, the Courier had some sort of mission to handle, and they trusted that the dragon-esque creatures outside could handle any intruders...but it got lonely, ever since the war, they'd been alone, just the five plus Mobius, perhaps limited human contact was in order here.

Soon Six entered the Tank, Zero confirming the courier's suspicions.

"Good morning Lobotomite, for your forethought. Yes, we were watching. Secondly, we understand the issue at hand."

"What do you mean? You listened in on the conversation between that Stag and I?"

"It's called Xerneas, lobotomite, even we understood it loud and clear."

Dr. Borous happily chimed in.

"Of course lobotomite, we have much to discuss, but so little time."

"What do you mean?"

"Dr. Eight has been monitoring broadcasts from this 'Team Flare'. He believes we hijacked a Team Flare communications satellite, they've been talking of this 'Lumiose Conference' as of late. I would say that would be your most important destination, the conference takes place within three days."

"Wait...are you telling me to leave?"

Mobius, in all his kind glory, appeared behind Six on the giant computer monitor.

"I've been listening to these wonderful conversations all this time, as have the rest of the Tank, we've come to a conclusion that this world simply can't afford to end up like ours. We want you to save it by any means necessary, even if it means ending some lives, it will save many more times millions."

Xerneas appeared as well.

"It is indeed a troublesome task that the heavens hold above you, but you don't stand alone."

Klein, reading a radar, interrupted their little speech.

"THE STAG IS CORRECT LOBOTOMITE, IT APPEARS THAT THE INTERNAL RADAR HAS PICKED UP A SIGNATURE OFF THE NORTHERN PEAK, IT'S A FLYING OBJECT...IT'S...A VB-02? IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Klein..what's a VB-02?"

"It's a Vertibird! But there's no way that any could be operational, most if not all were used by the Old American Military."

"The Military? Wait...The American Military... It's not the military"

"Then who's flying that thing?"

This was Borous, confused as ever.

"Mobius, send a message to the Bird, let them know the Enclave are welcome to land."

"The Who?..Ah very well Courier. I hope you know what you're doing."

"Trust me, we're headed outside, we're going to meet some of my old friends."

Before he left, Zero had to ask the courier one important question.

"What should we tell the Vertibird?"

* * *

Dateline: Midnight  
Location: Mere Miles east of the Big Mountain

* * *

The Remnants flew in low and fast, their Vertibird met no resistance en route to the crater, Daisy Whitman, the highly-trained pilot, chimed in on her intercom.

"Alright, we should be about...three miles away, anything you want to say before we possibly kick the bucket?"

Old Cannibal Johnson, decked in old Enclave Armor, gave a simple response.

"A question for everyone actually, how far do you think we kick this bucket?"

The crew just groaned, the squad, as a whole, had changed very little. They know they didn't age well, but who cares about that if you can still move in Power Armor?

Upon reaching the crater, Daisy met an amazing sight. Nothing was there, all except for some sort of flying bright blue disc.

"You all seeing what I'm seeing?"

Judah Kreger only nodded.

"It looks like a ship from here, move closer Dais'."

She complied, moving the Vertibird lower to the ground and closer to the disc, now seen to be glowing a brilliant galaxy blue. It wasn't a disc-shaped ship, rather it was a disc-shaped portal, and it was forcing them closer.

"I can't move the Bird, we're going in hot!"

...

...

Silence filled the void, if you asked any of the few travelers along the route of what they heard that night, they would tell you they heard screams that could cut through glass...then a bright flash of light then instant silence.

* * *

The team instantly reappeared in the sky, albeit a sunny, cloud-filled one. Whitman instantly recognized this and messaged back to the four other members of the team.

"Whew, that was...something, y'all all right back there?"

She got a collection of yes's and groans, seems like everyone was still alive. Judah chimed in, asking the question on everyone's mind.

"Are we dead? Never noticed the Mojave looking so...green and lush, almost like it's out of a storybook."

Doctor Henry, in all of his dull logic, simply chided in.

"Can't be, we're still flying and we're close to landing in the side of mount-JESUS DAISY MOVE TO THE RIGHT!"

Daisy Whitman nearly careened into the side of what was clearly a mountain, how it got here was anyone's guess, another thing that she noticed was the fact that her bird was being hailed.

"Hey everyone, we're getting a message, we're apparently being hailed."

"What's it say?"

"They're coordinates, seems like it might be south of us...yep, seeing...sweet god almighty, it's Big Mountain, dead ahead!"

She was correct, ahead of the VertiBird stood Big Mountain, surrounded by forests and slowly growing vines that wrapped around the complex, it almost appeared more as a set of ancient ruins than a science center.

One Orion Moreno was struck by the beauty of it all, for once he had no words on the matter, something that Johnson found quite an accomplishment. Judah Kreger, being the captain of the team, responded to Daisy.

"Dais'. What else did that message say? Do we know if it's safe to approach?"

"I think it's safe alright."

"How can we be so sure?"

"The coordinates had some text above them. I couldn't believe it at first."

"What'd it say? Spill it already woman."

"Dear Old Friends, Remember Navarro."

The VertiBird took to the complex, on the ground stood an old friend, one who, despite being half their age, held just as many tales to tell, and boy did he have another tale that needed writing.


	22. Anything Goes

Authors note - Ah yes, Ash being an Aura Guardian...what movie specified that one? Can't remember for sure, but it was something something Lucario...As for the fan club gag, it's just something I put in, a nod to the fandom. Just type in 'Ash Ketchum' on Deviantart for example. I'd say there's probably close to half a million results on the guy alone.

* * *

"The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot eternally live in a cradle."

Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky

* * *

Inside the Think Tank, there were several things going through the Couriers mind; Why was he doing this? What did he have to gain? And more importantly, which weapon was better suited for the task at hand?

That's not to say Six couldn't talk his way out of a situation, it's just the fact that you can get more if you tread softly and carry a big stick...especially if that big stick is basically a 20-something pound sledgehammer manufactured by an old-world armory and able to smash a rifle into pieces. Shamefully, Zero never bothered to fix the bug that rendered Six's inventory manager null, meaning he had to carry less for more, for a man with atypical hoarding tendencies, this simply couldn't do...Unless...

"Xerneas, what exactly are the reasons you can't come along?"

The deer stood intrigued, so this human is actually asking a solid question?

"Why it's simple logic of course, if I assist you in any combative way, that would falsify the prophecy, rendering it void."

"Well...you obviously seem to want to see Team Flare burn, and I think I know a way you can come along AND help me in the process."

Help in a peaceful way? Xerneas just had to hear this humans plan.

"What, pray tell, is this ingenius plan of yours?"

"Well...the way it can go is-"

Before our courier could say anything else, he heard the sound of a helicopter land just outside the Tank. No doubt Six was happy to welcome the old-timers along for another _fun-filled_ journey, this time with less bloodshed and more peacekeeping.

* * *

Outside at the front entrance stood an elderly woman checking her rotors, Old Daisy Whitman; Ace Vertibird pilot with over 75 missions and only one crashed heli. Inside the bird sat the resident Enclave diehard Orion Moreno decked in old Enclave power armor, getting up there in the years but still convinced that the Enclave stood for truth and glory, his gatling laser ready to silence all non-believers.

Old Cannibal Johnson looked ready to sleep; No doubt the weather, almost alien to all of the resident wastelanders, was taking its toll on him. He still sat upright though, keeping sentry whilst calmly rotating the barrels of his minigun, wasting time away if anything. Then there was Judah Kreger, awestruck by the nature of it all. Despite his age, he had never seen anything close to trees or grass this green before , to see how the old-world must have looked was astounding.

Finally came Doc Henry, armed with geiger counter and specialty instruments dedicated to measuring radiation and toxicity levels, to which he found none. Impressed with the results, Henry was the first to notice the courier, giving a quick, but well-meaning, classic salute.

"If it isn't the old Mojave Hero, glad to see you're amongst the living, you'd been missing for over a week."

"Wait..a week? I've only been here for...one, two...two days I think."

"Must be some sort of compression, they dabbled in the theory back at Navarro, but it never really took off."

"Well, all this aside, welcome to Big Mountain...home of everything pre-war."

"We know kid, we passed by the place when we emigrated to the Mojave, though we never knew it was still in operation until we touched down near Vegas."

Judah Kreger decided to chime in.

"Enough discussion on the place, we're here for a reason. I want to know why we're-...Courier, you aware there's a radstag next to you?"

"A what?"

"Bah, nevermind, forgot you've never been to California."

Xerneas was interested in what a radstag was, Judah gave the the simple shake of a head that told the deity that it was best not to know. Six merely looked on, finally asking the question of why they were here.

"So Judah, what brings you to Big Mountain ? I thought you were afraid of getting shot down personally."

"Funny guy aren't you? We were looking for Gannon, he fell of the radar sometime last week, figured he was searching for you. We packed our bags and headed out to the only place we could think of you being at...well barring Vegas, considering you're the bane of many a card shark."

"Don't forget it either, so that's what you were- Wait, did you say Gannon's here?"

"Has to be Kiddo, he isn't back at the crater. There's some big old hole flying in the air out there, some sort of portal."

Xerneas decided to butt in, figuring that it had an answer to this dilemma.

"A portal you say? Interesting, seems to be an after-effect of the the compression between rifts."

All six humans stood silent, eventually Courier Six broke the silence.

"Rift? After-effect? Are you saying that anyone could just waltz in here and possibly destroy everything in its wake?"

"Not precisely, the rift on your end of the spectrum is more stable, due to it being the first of the two to open; Likewise, the one of Kalos is more unstable, there is no set destination where the transported creature will be summoned to."

Doc Henry finally figured out the equation.

"So that's why we were in the air, because of an undetermined equation, so we could've equally ended up underneath the water too, right?"

Xerneas gave a nod, impressed with the logic these humans had instituted, clearly they were much more than the sums of their ages. Courier Six had started to understand too, in fact, he was now worried. If there was indeed a rift, then any force could approach this world; The Brotherhood, raiders, former legion troops, even the NCR was a threat. Our courier made a mental note to make sure to capture anyone that comes from the other side. The couriers thought process was broken by Xerneas, slightly marveled by the Vertibird in front of its gaze.

"So this machine...how does it work? I've seen humans fly in vertical platforms before, but none like this."

Daisy Whitman lit up, someone was actually interested in her bird.

"It's simple actually, you have a rotating pivot on each wing that supports the engine, this can either be configured to be fly as a helicopter or as a plane, the VB-02 is the only model of its kind, even back in the old-world, this beauty was still in a prototype stage."

"I've kept hearing about this 'Old-World'...What is it?"

All six humans stood silent, some thoughtfully looking away, almost as if mourning an era long past, whilst Six looked disappointed. Six eventually talking.

"It's something that humanity took for granted, it's the world that existed before ours."

"A world before yours? What does that even mean?"

"Hah, guess I'm not as good as Ulysses, if we ever meet him, I"ll let him explain it to you. You deserve to know at least why we act the way we do...oh, hey Jude, think you can fit us all in the Vertibird?"

"I guess so, there should be enough room. Do we even know where we're going?"

"I..Well...Nope, not really, got anything Xerneas?"

"I can only suggest locations, not give explicit orders, such is the pro-"

"Such is the prophecy blah blah blah, getting tired of that word. How about something else? Like Destiny!"

Judah spoke next, looking as bored as an Enclave officer could look.

"You really are something, you know that Courier? So Cornelius, where we headed to exactly?"

"I would suggest going to Lumiose City, if the prophecy stands true, then that is where Lysandre will strike..And my name is pronounced XERNEAS."

"Well...when should we leave? Have a time?"

"Hmm...we could probably leave in half an hour. I'm almost packed up."

"Wait a second, shouldn't there be some sort of security?"

"We've got the giant dragons man, they're sorta like deathclaws...only more fuzzy-looking and less...terrifying?"

"Well...works for me I guess, so anything else we sho-whoa there!"

As if on cue, one of the larger dragonite, who had been observing the western edges, had approached Judah, curiousity sparkling in his eyes, he then approached the courier, coming closer and closer...eventually sitting down and wagging his tail...how could something so massive and dragon-like be this...cute? Six was confused, and decided to ask the question on everyone's mind.

"Xerneas...what's this thing doing?"

The dragon gave a small roar, eventually lifting itself up and point eastwards, then towards the Vertibird.

" I think..it wants to accompany us. It seems as though it wants to do more than guard duty, considering how large he is compared to the others, he could be quite the invaluable ally to you."

Courier Six, in all of his mighty, infinite wisdom...figured that having a giant orange dragon couldn't cause many problems.

"Well...I guess it couldn't hurt, all right then, let's pack up and head for this damned conference! After that I'm planning to finally retire."

* * *

-An hour later

The courier strapped his gear up, a set of heavy T-51b power armor, fresh from the Brotherhood and bulky as hell compared to his favored T-45d set, with super sledge and light machine gun in tow, he figured that he was armed enough for a Third Battle of The Dam. Meanwhile, William the Quilladin was woken from a nap by Roxie, signaling that the time to egress was nigh.

"C'mon, just five more minutes, please?"

"Fine kid, just don't bug me when the Tank experiments on you."

This jostled the large shell pokemon to trudge his way to the exterior of Big Mountain.

The Vertibird outside looked almost comically full, the Dragonite apparently decided that the space in the troop compartment was a nice place to rest, at least the side doors could still close. All six humans and three pokemon, as Xerneas would simply meet them in Lumiose, prepared to lift off.

"Hang on tight y'all! We're going to pass through some turbulence on the way there!"

* * *

On the other end of the playing field, Lysandre of Team Flare shame was flabbergasted at the beauty these trophy materials held. This 'Saturnite' compound was well-built to be used as sharpened weapons and improved armor, perhaps his admins would better be able to withstand damage. Pokemon armor seemed a decent idea as well.

The toxins his forces had stolen had differing side-effects on their 'willing test subjects', but they had two things in common; A 100% lethality quota and an obvious fear factor to exploit.

What really impressed him though were the secrets of nuclear fission and fusion respectively, Lysandre not only discovered the materials and secrets hidden away in Big Mountain, he also discovered a weapon capable of harnessing its power! A rocket stolen from Unova proved the perfect candidate for delivering such a warhead, he could hold the entire world in his grasp with the threat of a single red button!

There were several threats he had to dispose of, namely the guardian, who was no doubt en route to Lumiose as he spoke. A shame he most likely won't arrive in time to lay witness to the ultimate power that was Team Flare. Lysandre was pleased, so much so that he spoke into the intercom connecting his lab together.

"Attention all staff aboard Lysandre Labs. I understand the great sacrifices we suffered to create a new world, we lost many friends and family along the way, we nearly suffered defeat at the ruins. But hear me now, what we lost will not be in vain! We will remember those that fell for progress, in fact, I want you to keep the lost in your memories for today, not in sadness, but rather in gratitude and respect. Enjoy your early leave for today, you've all earned it."

A collection of cheers could be heard from his office, Lysandre stood silent for a moment, uttering a choice few words for the fallen. He continued on the path to his new world, determined to right the wrongs that humankind had wrought upon itself.


	23. Solitary Man

Author's Note - at the time of finishing this, the story will have hit 6,000 views, whether a few people are just really enjoying the story or if a couple hundred folks like what they read, this is a milestone people.

* * *

" _Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it."_

Edmund Burke

* * *

Dateline: Mid-morning; around the same time as the arrival of The Remnants  
Location: The boot-end of Route 12

* * *

Ulysses had managed to reach the outskirts of Coumarine City, eventually coming across the center of town, where he happened upon a rather strange man, two rather. One wearing traditional Irish green whilst another wore a dusted labcoat, by the labcoats side were three creatures; a pink marshmallow on legs, a floating...flower? And finally a walking plant.

Ulysses swore he had seen this man in general before, but couldn't quite place the time or place where he had met said figure before. It was then that he noticed the insignia on the labcoat where the right shoulderblade was. A cross inside of a circle, there was only one organization he knew of that used the cross.

Before he could speak to the labcoat, he was gone, clearly leaving with the elderly man. Ulysses figured that a Follower of The Apocalypse must've ended up in this land by some other means, he just needed to figure out how. Catching up to the labcoat somewhere along a forest trail, he muttered out two words, Ulysses was taking a gamble, time to see if it proved his theory held water.

"Ave Medicus." (Hail, Doctor.)

The labcoat stopped in his tracks, not daring to look behind him, the three pokemon were confused, looking behind them to see a long-haired figure in a trench coat, flanked by a sawk and throh with a gengar floating close by.

The labcoat looked nervous, but he still managed to reply. His voice nonetheless shakier than old clapboard on the side of a house.

"Vos Caesarem ad Legionem?" (Are you of Caesar or the Legion?)

So this man knew of Caesar and the Legion? Interesting, judging by his voice, he must've either feared him or hated him, perhaps both.

"Prius, sed pos Graham." (Previously, but I left after Graham.)

The labcoat relaxed quite a bit, easing the mind of the elderly man he was accompanying, he finally turned back, showing the face of a man whose history was never clearly written to the end. He spoke, now in a less nervous tone.

"I'm not really sure as to be afraid or relieved to see a friendly face...well, as friendly as a former legionnaire can be at least."

"I feel neither. Rather, Curiosity's stemming from my mind, several questions are what I have for you."

"Well...I was helping this gentleman, Ramos, with some work...uhm..you wouldn't care to come along. Would you? Just try not to destroy anything."

"I don't think..Ugh, very well Follower, lead the way."

The old man chimed in next.

"Wonderful! We'll have that pie cooked in no time at all with your help!"

Ulysses was, for one of the few moments in his life, genuinely confused.

"Wait...pie? What's a pie?"

Eventually, the combined group reached what appeared to be a massive tree, quite the sight, considering there were barely any trees at all in the wasteland. Both Gannon and Ulysses stood shocked, Ramos simply looked back and noticed the gaping shocked expressions on both men.

"Hey, youngsters, you alright? You look shocked."

Ulysses kept the same expression, with Gannon conveying both of their thoughts.

"It's...it's marvelous! I've never seen such a massive tree in my entire life! Not even the Sequoia's of old could compare to this thing."

"Well I'm flattered, but it isn't just a tree, this is my home and gym all rolled into one."

"Wait...gym, like a fitness gym? Sorry but I'm not much on exercise."

"Not that kind of gym, haven't you ever had a pokemon battle?"

Both Ulysses and Gannon looked at the elderly man, with Gannon being the more talkative of the two.

"No...never in fact, are they really that prominent?"

"Of all the things I'd heard, you're a first sonny, that's for sure. We'll talk about that later, for now, that pie is waiting with our names on it!"

"What about planting the berries and roots?"

"They can wait, for now. I'm hungry."

Both of the wastelanders simply groaned, neither could cook in a traditional sense, as most of the stoves of the old days were rusted and seemed very questionable to use, but they each fought in some sort of war, they can handle whatever comes their way, so cooking should be a breeze...

Right?

* * *

Dateline: Mid-Morning  
Location: Somewhere over Kalos

* * *

Courier Six and the Vertibird crew was lost, Xerneas gave them simple directions to reach Lumiose by flying northeast, unfortunately, they had misheard the directions, instead flying simply north. Judah was scanning the area, sitting in the co-pilots seat, giving him a clear sense of where they were.

"I can wholeheartedly say that we're lost Courier, can't see any city, just forests and rivers, think I saw some sort of mansion earlier..for what it's worth, it is a beautiful day outside."

Courier Six just groaned, clearly they were going to be behind schedule, he'd wished that Xerneas just gave them some sort of map..Oh wait, it did, but Orion figured that Enclave soldiers "Didn't need no stinking maps" thus tossing it out mid-flight. Six reminded them all of this immediately.

"This wouldn't have happened if we just had the damn map, now we need to figure out another way to get directions."

Daisy Whitman had some sort of plan, it could work...maybe.

"Perhaps, in the next town we see, we could ask for some directions, you and Johnson can do it, since you two are the friendliest out of us all."

"Are you kidding? I'm a walking tank armed with an LMG and Johnson's got a minigun as a sidearm, we're friendly yeah, but we don't look the part, in fact I think we would cause a national emergency if we were to touch down in ANY town around here."

Beeping was being heard from the birds control console.

"Well, we might have to touch down anyway, the old girl is having an issue with her number 2 rotor."

"What else could go wrong? Anyone?"

Almost as if on cue, sputtering could be heard from the left engine nacelle. The bird was still flying stable flight patterns, but it was going down at a quickening pace. It appeared that it was landing near a thicker part of the forest down below.

"Hang on everyone! Touching down in a pond! Can you swim?"

"Ask me that again! I dare yo-"

*SPLASH*

The vertibird took a dunk into the water, thankfully nose-up and taking little to no collision damage. Six was happy that everyone was alive, Judah was annoyed that the schedule was being held back...Orion was annoyed at everything as usual while Johnson and the Dragonite were jostled from their nap.

Daisy Whitman peeked her head out of the cockpit, her bird managed to land gracefully on the edge of a small bank on the river, an accomplishment in her eyes. Courier Six thanked his lucky stars, a dead Courier is a useless one after all. Judah began ferrying orders to the crew, informing them of their mission, find some way to fix the Vertibird, keep a security posting at all times, and don't kill anyone!

Courier Six made sure to press that order deep into Orions head, the man was more trigger-happy than the Remnants had liked, and they worried that he might cause unintentional backlash by attacking the wrong person, even more so if they were to die...Yeah, let's just keep hostilities to an absolute minimum, works well enough for the courier. Whilst Daisy performed a check-up on her Vertibird, Six volunteered to keep sentry.

Courier Six was more bored than anything, sure the scenery was beautiful and it was a beautiful day for a picnic, but it was starting to stale up a little bit, a part of him wondered if he should try and find a mechanic or something. Courier Six's thoughts were broken by the sound of something peculiar near what appeared to be the edge of the forest, it sounded like footsteps, more than one set from the sounds of it.

Preparing his sledge, our courier snuck towards the forest's edge with the grace and quietness of a bulldozer, muttering curses under his breath due to the stomping weight of his bootsteps. Reaching near the edge of a bush, he heard something his armor, looking down to his chest, he noticed a large splatter of mud, standing up and looking to his feet, he saw the culprit.

A small gray rabbit with absurdly large ears had apparently hit him with mud, the rabbit looked terrified, its ears starting to droop. It was muttering what appeared to be its same as well.

"Bun..bunnel-bunnelby?"

Bunnelby? Strange, welp, whatever it was, it looked terrified, even more so when Six's stomach was grumbling.

"Crap, and I didn't even think to bring some food along for sentry duty...don't worry little guy, you seem a bit too stringy for me anyway."

"BUN!"

The rabbit started to run away, Six had half a mind to follow the bouncing mud-bunny, but figured it was best to leave it be...at least it was, after around five minutes, he heard a familiar voice, that same one he heard in the field on his first day here...oh god it was those kids.

"Bunnelby says it came from over here!"

Little girl? Yep..wait...that peppy voice...It couldn't be

"Careful Bonnie, whatever's in there could be dangerous!."

Sounded like Jumpsuit...I'm sorry. I meant Clemont..yep, it was...

"Well We'll just have to calm it down, it might be angry or something."

"I highly doubt that."

The two voices were approaching the courier, as were another set of footsteps a little farther east, possibly trying to cut him off. Clemont and Bonnie soon appeared in his range of vision, as did he in theirs. Bonnie, naturally, went first. The courier took off his helmet, hoping to appear more familiar to the group he was about to encounter.

"Wait a second...you're that guy we met! Courier!"

Oh god, this kid was sure to kill him, she was too damned adorable. Clemont looked somewhat surprised at seeing the Courier this far from the Pomace Mountains.

"Ah it's you. What are you doing out here? I thought you were back at that lab?"

"Well, change of plans...we got raided and I'm getting back what those Flare grunts stole."

"Wait what?! They attacked again?"

That was a different voice..it was that kid that stopped him from possibly averting this entire scenario.

"That's right..We got attacked last night...the full cadre, the big boss and his small army showed up and snuck away with several...very dangerous technologies."

Six didn't bother to mention the destruction of nearly two-thirds of the attacking force, that can wait. He also didn't bother mentioning the dog thing, that was terrifying enough on it's own.

"Like what?"

"Things I don't even want to discuss. What's bringing you all out here?"

Fashion Choice Awards gi-I mean Serena. spoke up next.

"We were actually going to visit a friend in Shalour City...Oh, speaking of which. I almost forgot, we met several of your friends!"

Friends you say?

"My friends huh? Name them off."

"Well...there was Ulysses...he was weird, he almost beat Team Rocket to a pulp by himself, he also wants to meet you in Lumiose City."

"HA! Sounds like something he would do, though if he wants to meet me in Lumiose, must be important...anyone else?"

Bonnie chimed in, being her average, energetic self.

"Oh yes! Mr. Arcade Gannon stopped a Team Flare grunt from robbing a cafe, we got to-"

"Hold the phone little tumbleweed, did you say Arcade Gannon? Blonde hair, glasses, sort of awkward like your brother?"

"Hey!"

Bonnie had to agree, somewhat begrudgingly, with this.

"It's true Clemont...even the guy we just met already considers you awkward, but yeah, that was him."

"Where is he now? Any clue?"

"I think he's working with Professor Sycamore at his lab...at least that's where Ash told him to go to."

That sucks, Six hadn't seen Gannon in over half a year, mainly he only got to see the crew, or what was left of it rather, around once or twice a year; Everyone eventually seperating and going their own way. He figured Gannon might've actually taken his advice and stuck around for the Old Mormon Fort, guess not.

"Well hell...guess I'll just see the guy later then...how was meeting Ulysses?"

Ash decided to offer his whole opinion on the Legionnaire.

"Ulysses..I don't think we know what to think of him..He's clearly on the same side as you are..but he's more violent, he's honestly someone I would actually think twice about battling."

"Hehe, so he scared you too huh? Trust me, when you figure out his history, you'll know why he's Ulysses...No other name fits the man honestly."

"No other name huh? If it's all in a name, then what's yours then? Aside from Six."

"My name? Well that's simple...My name is..."

...

...

"Simply the Courier."

Everyone just dropped to the ground.

"You don't even have a name?"

"Oh trust me. I have a name, just can't remember it, really don't care to either."

"Why don't you remember?"

"Really want to know? What if I told you about a man who survived a bullet to the brain?"

Clemont offered his two cents.

"That's impossible, no one has ever survived something that dangerous before."

"Well congratulations, you've met the only man who survived a nine-millimeter shot to the head, point-blank."

All four humans plus respective yellow mouse gasped, just how much had this one man been through?

A set of heavy footsteps came to approach the courier, it was Old Johnson, looking even more terrifying than Six, with his full set of Enclave Power Armor. Bonnie could only utter out one word in full haste of her panic.

"MONSTER!"

Six was confused, it was just Johnson...

"Jeesh, is the kid that afraid of me? Ah, Courier, bad news, bird's gonna be down for a while, rotor wiring got tangled up.

Six nodded and then tried to calm down the little girl, slowly getting nervous at her tear-filled eyes.

"Calm down kiddo, it's not a monster, it's just a buddy of mine, Old Cannibal Johnson, he won-"

Serena was next, a look of fear in her eyes.

"Cannibal?! He eats other people?!"

Ash and Clemont both stood apprehensive and stood ready to battle, as did Pikachu and the respective Bunnelby.

Damn it all to hell, who would've thought a poor choice of words would cause this much uproar? Both girls were panicking, clearly Ash and Clemont were doing their best to calm them down, as was Six.

"He's not a cannibal, it's just a nickname...please..stop yelling and screaming, you're hurting my ears."

Old Johnson spoke next, calm as always.

"Y'know, maybe Old Cannibal Johnson isn't the best way to introduce me, maybe Old Man Johnson or Ol' Timer Johnson."

"Thanks...could've put that notice up several minutes ago, now we've probably scarred several kids for life."

After the mistake concerning Johnson's name was reiterated, both girls promptly apologized. Six wondered though, how the hell were these kids part of a prophecy if they got scared by just a name alone? His train of thought was broken once more by more footsteps approaching..They weren't expecting more visitors.

* * *

Elsewhere at an earlier point in time, we notice a pair of women wandering a small path, one taking pictures with her camera whilst another messed around with her video recorder, both conversing about the conference taking place in several days. A little girl screaming aloud about a monster immediately brought them to their senses and prompted them to investigate. Trudging through many a thorn bush and crossing several small streams, both girls came across two walking tanks and Ash's team conversing amongst each other, with the gray tank patting Bonnie on the head while the darker black one was...petting Dedene? Speaking of the armors, the gray one had taken his helmet off, revealing a very familiar face to the camcorder holder.

"It's you! I've finally got you cornered."

Courier Six visibly shuddered, he remembered that voice, turning to his left, he started staring down the now-revealed reporter, Alexa. Six immediately dropped his helmet in fear

"You've gotta be shitting me! Can't you news-types ever leave people alone? How the hell did you even find me?!"

Alexa's sister, the one holding the camera, spoke next. Obviously embarassed by her sisters actions."

"I'm sorry about my sis..she gets so worked up over the most benign things...I'm surprised she didn't burst when she saw you...We heard a scream, some girl cried monster, my guess was that it was Bonnie."

"That's right! Hi Viola!" The little girl was back to her cheerful self...good, no need to worry about getting an emergency teddy bear...Where the hell can you get a teddy bear around here anyway? Bears don't exist here as far as Pokemon logic is concerned.

"Hey Bonnie. So..I'm guessing you're the guy Alexa was talking about...the so-called Vigilante of Geosenge."

"Good God lady. So I stopped a robbery, so what? What's so important about stopping a robber from stealing a couple of rocks?"

Alexa interrupted Viola before she even had a chance to speak.

"They aren't just rocks, they're mega-evolution stones."

Six brought out his hammer, slightly scaring everyone in the general vicinity.

"And this is my super sledge, heavy, tough and able to bring down a grove of trees in one fell swoop...but in the end it's still a sledgehammer, thus, your mega-stones are simply enhanced rocks in the end."

"Still...you stopped a robber, and I want an interview, _I can arrange for us to have no one else disturb it_."

She was trying way too hard to get that interview...It was here that Six had an idea. She couldn't possibly get him if he set an impossible bar to make her reach. Our courier smiled a small grin.

"Tell ya what...I'll do your stupid interview on one, UNO, condition."

"HAHA yes! Bring it on vigilante, set your price."

"Bring me a living, breathing generator."

"Wha-?"

"You heard me. I said bring me a living generator of electricity. I highly doubt anything around here can actually generate electricity, right?"

Ash was visibly dumbfounded. Clemont and Bonnie were trying to hold in laughter, whilst Serena felt sorry for Six, she tried to clear up everyones reaction

"Actually...Pikachu harness power from thunderstorms..he helped keep a pokemon center's power running after an outage."

Clemont spoke next.

"My Heliolisk assisted in maintaining the backup generator during several heavy winterstorms."

Finally there was Alexa..A smug look on her face signaling her victory, a poke-ball in her hand revealed a tiny, black and yellow (Black and yellow black and yellow) lizard with droopy ear things with big blue eyes. It looked up to Six with an innocent smile, not knowing that the courier had been defeated.

"Allow me to introduce you to Helioptile, my little _generator_ pokemon and bundle of electric joy."

"There's no way that thing can produce its own electri-"

*ZAP*

Helioptile fired a spark at a nearby tree, and looked to the courier, signaling that Six was indeed wrong.

"Heliop!"

Our courier only had one thing to say to all this.

"Nuts to this man. I've got a Vertibird that needs fixing, so if any of you have any experience, would love some help. THEN you can get that interview you've been fantasizing about...Any volunteers?"

Clemont raised his hand rather vigorously, as in he raised so high that the heavens above felt his ingenious wrath.

"I can help! I've worked with just about every kind of machine there is!"

Old Man Johnson (It's his name now, seems a better fit for the situation at hand) offered a warning to the young man in the blue jumpsuit, feeling slightly nervous at the boys enthusiasm.

"Well at least be careful..please...they haven't made any new Vertibird's in over 40 years."

"Yes sir, no worries. I'll be as careful and levelheaded as a Greninja."

Johnson didn't understand any of the lingo that the child sputtered out. Instead just nodding in hopes of whatever he said was a good thing.

With Six, Johnson and more company than they would like heading back to the Vertibird, we now transition to Ulysses and the adventure for the Lum Berry Pie.

* * *

Inside of Ramos' Psuedo-Deku Tree, we transition to what appears to be a kitchen with a more...homish style, built into the base of the tree, right below the gym. Ramos took notice that both men were not suited to work at a stove, something was missing...Aprons of course! Looking in the nearest cupboard. This gave Gannon enough time to talk to Ulysses. Both of their pokemon had ventured to explore the tree.

"So...you're former Legion huh?"

"That's correct, Frumentarius."

"Legion scout? Quite a feat that you've survived this long."

"Not a feat, rather a miracle."

"How so?"

"I'll Explain later, The one living among trees is coming back."

"The one livi-oh I see now, _Ramos._ Makes sense now"

The elderly man's name DID make more sense now, no time to dwell on it though, for Ramos returned with a couple of aprons..neither of which suited Arcade's and Ulysses' personalities one bit. One was a sickening shade of green with a floral pattern of pink and lilac flowers on the front, another was just pink with what appeared to be a glass of tea on the front.

"Now I know you aren't exactly the kind of men who would wear these...but these are the only ones that I think would fit you, you're taller than the average Kalosian after all. I'd say by a good six or seven inches!"

Both men played rock, paper, scissors to see who would lose, the loser got the green apron, whilst the winner got the pink...one...okay so it was lose-lose either way, for them it was, for the pokemon, it was a pure win.

Whilst Gannon's team looked on in amusement and laughter (Looking at you Lilligant, who was on her back laughing rather loudly). Ulysses team looked bewildered, Sawk and Throh both stifling a laugh whilst Boris (Remember Boris?) shook his head in shame and disappointment.

Ulysses wondered why he came along in the first place, meanwhile, Ramos prepared the recipe. Gannon simply waited for Ramos to finish whilst looking at his own team of pokemon, in particular the Lilligant.

"I see you laughing, just wait until I spray you down with pesticide."

That silenced Lilligant immediately, with Audino giggling at Gannon's sense of humor. Ulysses made note that this 'Gannon' was clearly someone Six would get along with...Wait a minute, Follower of The Apocalypse, somehow wound up at Big Mountain, ended up here...that could mean only one thing. It was time to ask some big questions, especially since Ramos had to leave again due to missing some ingredients..namely flour and sugar.

"Arcade was it? Are you familiar with one Courier Six?"

Gannon stiffened immediately, looking Ulysses straight in the eyes.

"What if I am Legionnaire?"

"Perhaps you know about Big Mountain? About Mr. House and the So-called Remnants of the Old World."

"Who exactly are you?"

"I'm Ulysses, unlike you, I came here on my own terms. A shadow is looming over the Mojave, and it all begins here."

"What exactly is _it_?"

"IT is a being more destructive than the politicians of the Old World, I fear that the two-headed bear will lose its will against the force of this realm."

"Can you speak english? Latin at least? How about something less cryptic?"

"Less cryptic you say? Simply put Follower, two worlds are being threatened as I speak, ours of the Mojave, and the one we currently occupy."

"So what's the threat that is SO dangerous?"

"Imagine the Brotherhood of Steel, only instead of harnessing technology for their gain, they harness the power of ancient deities, one in particular disturbs me to no end, I saw a vision days before my arrival, the powers of the ancient goddess Terra being used for destruction, a green earth became once more, but none walked amongst the flora."

"So you're telling me our planet is threatened...by vegetation? If that isn't irony I don't know what is."

"I'm sure you remember Vault 22? Imagine that on a much grander scale Follower, New Vegas and The Boneyard claimed by artificial vegetation for its own gain. The Mojave claimed by murderous vines that sap away at the last remnants of Humanity. None can negate its impact at that point, it will have grown enormous at that time. It must be stopped at the source."

Gannon thought for a few moments, curious as to why Ramos hadn't come back, but also thinking of the destruction the wasteland could face. He figured, that in the end, a planet with people was probably better than an earth full of plants but with nothing left living or breathing.

"Well...I guess you have a point. I mean, if you know Six, you've gotta be trustworthy somehow, right?"

At that moment, Ramos popped up, flour and sugar in tow.

"Well, good news is I have the ingredients...Ready to bake a pie?

Ulysses was suspicious, he was more than certain that this man had overheard their conversation, perhaps he should've had it at a more isolated position, no matter, this only meant that they were one step closer to stopping whatever dangerous figure was threatening the world at large. Gannon, in all his obliviousness, agreed with Ramos. All six pokemon were wishing for camera's.

Gannon prepared himself to actually learn to cook, maybe he can finally beat Six at his own game after this was all over...Ulysses just groaned. Uttering remarks under his breath.

"What sins have I committed to be sentenced to this crime?"

Ramos was oblivious to the suffering of Ulysses, reading from an old cookbook on how to fix a Lum Berry Pie.

"Alright, now the first thing we do is make the filling, I already have a crust made for such occasions, now what you do is crush the berries and put them into a blender."

-Ramos' voice fades out as we leave the interior of the Giving Tree's quiet cousin that no one ever talks about. Between the amateur pie makers, a courier with a rather obsessed reporter on his tail and the poor Enclave Retirees that are eventually going to get stuck in the middle of a possible attempted uprising, we know for sure that the Kalos Region is surely in safe hands. Because who better to protect the world than Courier Six? The man who convinced his own brain to travel with him once more.


	24. Rocky Mountain Way

Author's Note - Guess whose house almost got burned down by rioters yesterday? Guess who also nearly got robbed, carjacked and mugged all in the span of two hours! I'm tired of the post-election period and I'm tired of hearing "Trump is not my president!" every five minutes...Ah, have to buy another computer too...using a spare two-in-one I have for emergencies. Here's another chapter for y'all.

* * *

" _I must study Politics and War, so that my sons may study Mathematics and Philosophy."_

John Adams

* * *

Clemont, gym leader of the Prism Tower, marveled at the sight of what is known as the Vertibird, a dark-grey body contrasted by the clear bubble-styled cockpit, inside the bird sat a dragonite, quilladin and...a Venemoth? All were asleep, obviously due to the relatively warm summer weather Kalos is famous for. Taking a close look at the left engine nacelle, Clemont noticed nothing strange about the engine, it looked perfectly fine to him, he turned to the elderly pilot, who was looking on with somber eyes.

"Ma'am, did you see anything unusual while you were flying?"

"Well...not a thing. I guess it's just tech showing its age."

"Age? How old could this possibly be?"

"Well, it was actually one of the few prototypes maintained after the Great War ended, it kept undergoing modifications to extend its service life...I'd say...around 200-ish years?"

"200 years?! There's no way, we only discovered flight around 70 years ago..."

"Well these old girls are really the only thing you'd see flying around anymore...such a shame, I can only imagine how it must've been to fly one of those flying wing jetliners..."

Clemont decided to intervene on Daisy's monologue.

"Ma'am? Miss Whitman? Are you ok?"

"Huh Wha? Oh, yes I am dearie, just thinking about old times, y'know I've flown 72 missions with only one downed Vertibird...well I better make it two now."

"That's amazing, tell me, would you be able to show us how you fly?"

"Well between the rest of us and the dragon, I doubt anyone else would fit."

"Oh...Well I'm sure it would be just as amazing to see it fly from the ground!"

"Oh you have no idea young'un."

"Oh, my apologies, your friend Six said you needed help with the engine."

"Well, if it was Six and you know your stuff, welcome aboard!

* * *

Some time later, the Vertibird still hadn't been fixed, the group was stuck and nothing eventful was occurring...until the Courier heard a voice inside his head.

"Brain? Is that you?"

"Not me good lad, I'm supposing it might be some sort of telepathy."

"You mean like those old space holo-tapes?"

"Erm...which ones are you talking about?"

This unknown voice soon spoke, signifying its presence, it sounded familiar.

"You're arguing with your mind, which has a separate mind from itself? I don't understand you Guardian, but nevertheless, I'm questioning where you are."

"Damnit Xerneas! You scared the hell out of me...wait...Am I talking to you with my brain?...or is it the other way around?...Brain, any ideas?"

"Stop it Courier! You're making ME hurt, I don't understand the clause or the ability of me being independently cognitive from you or your senses...just answer the stag."

"Right, right, so...we had a little trouble with the helicopter, should be fixed soon.."

"Wonderful Guardian, where are you located?"

"We...have no idea..Orion threw out the only map mid-flight."

"I...he...why would any human do something as stupid as that?!"

The brain soon chimed in.

"Probably because of the same reason people voted for Yuri Dich back in 2044."

"Who's that? Brain my old friend, where did you learn history?...Where did I learn history?..."

Xerneas, all the way in Lumiose city, just sighed in defeat, this human was arguing with himself...and apparently he was losing, it made the stag wonder, how did THIS humans brain become its own independent entity? It made Xerneas's own head hurt just thinking about the logical irregularities.

Six was tired of arguing and decided to go ask Ash and the gang for directions.

"Hey kiddo, have any clue where we are?"

"Well...Let's see. We're actually about 10 miles east of Shalour City, why?"

"Well...How can I put this?..I'm supposed to assist you...Such is some sort of prophetic mumbo-jumbo"

"Assist me? You mean like travel along with me? Prophecy?"

"Yep...unfortunately, usually I would prefer to rush into things guns blazing, but I prefer coming back alive this time around."

"Alive from what?"

"That's the thing. I don't know for certain, but I'm certain those Flare fodder grunts are part of it. Whatever the hell they're marching towards, it can't be good."

Ash thought for a second, then decided on a plan.

"Well. I was hoping to make the Lumiose Conference, you guys could come along, when it starts up, we'll be ready to face off against whatever Team Flare has."

"That's...actually a decent plan, seems like it could work. Let's shake on it then."

* * *

With Trainer and Warrior shaking hands, we turn over to Alexa and Viola, with the former thinking of interview questions.

"How about something concerning his childhood? Or his love-life...maybe his preference in women?"

"Alexa! I don't think he's into you, personally I'd lose interest if you started stalking me for an interview."

"But he's so unique, what other thing wears armor like that? He's like my knight in shining armor!...Only he's getting me a promotion instead of saving me."

"True...but maybe he's just a merc from Kanto, you know how dangerous it is over there. I'm just offering my two cents, he looks like he could swat at you with a tree. I highly doubt he's a knight."

You're right on that one..He wasn't a knight...but he USED to be a knight.

"Hmm...that is true, well at least I can get that interview, he did agree to it after all."

* * *

At the Vertibird, an amalgamation of activity was occuring, from Doc Henry taking an examination of the local river life to Orion scaring off an Ursaring, Judah Kreger relieved to see the Courier and Johnson return, but was surprised to see they brought along more company. Judah only felt it necessary to introduce the group, so as to not scare or frighten any of the kids. He and Daisy seemed the least threatening, as neither of them really wore any power armor. Doc Henry's radiation suit, however, proved quite ominous on its own, his manners really weren't that high on the list either. Nevertheless, Judah walked up to the group and issued a traditional Enclave salute out of respect.

"Glad to see you back Courier, Johnson, so who are the children you brought along?"

"Ah, these kids? They and I first met each other on Big Mountains initial day in Kalos. Meet, in order, Ash, Serena, Bonnie and her brother Clemont, who is actually helping you guys fix the engine."

Everyone gave their own greeting.

"What about the giant rat?"

"Pika?!"

Pikachu took offense, he was being compared to a lowly rat? The nerve of this man, he had half a mind to shock the man into submission, but decided against it. Ash defended him anyway.

"This isn't a rat! It's my buddy Pikachu, we've been traveling together ever since Kanto, isn't that right?"

"Pika-pi!"

Six only felt it necessary to speak up.

"Well enough introductions, how's the old bird doing?"

"Not sure, Daisy's been trying to figure out the problem, my guess is improper oil to fuel ratio. Engine might be flooded."

"Damn, so what can we do?"

"Well, you can go along with that kid as backup, we can probably catch up to you in the long run, take this radio, we use 'em to keep in touch."

Six was handed a traditional walkie-talkie, looks like Ash was gonna have another member for his group...actually he could have two...Yeah, two giant armored tanks for companions...why the hell wasn't this ever canon?

"Hey Johnson, you wanna come along bud? You seem tired of sitting around."

Johnson looked to Six with weary eyes but a calm smile.

"Heh, guess I could go for some action, I'm sure that the kids wouldn't mind would they?"

Ash and friends, minus Clemont as he had taken to work on the Vertibird, discussed it amongst each other: On one hand these guys seemed powerful enough to go head-to-head with a Machamp. On the other, just about every Jenny from here to the Decalore Islands would probably try to arrest the two men just for existing. They didn't seem like bad people, by Arceus Old Man Johnson looked like he could be a normal grandfatherly figure. Ash offered the ultimatum.

"Alright, we've figured out what we're going to do, you two can come along with us...however, you need to leave your helmets off."

Whilst Six understood the situation, Johnson seemed a tad confused.

"Why would we need to do that? Not that scary am I?"

Serena offered her two cents.

"Well, it's not that you're scary, but your armor is. We think that removing the helmet would make you look less like a robot and more like a human.

"Well...I guess so,"

Six decided that he would bring along his team with him, no doubt they were probably sleeping. Time to awaken the beasts.

* * *

Dateline: Around the same time as the Vertibird crash  
Location: Unknown, somewhere in Kanto

* * *

We see a large, corporate-styled building in the middle of Viridian City, zooming in, we see a figure sitting at a desk on the top floor. Said figure is talking to a large television screen, which has our three favorite morons. The old Team Rocket trio, in all their indisputable glory, had called in to talk to their boss, the figure of whom is now revealed as one Giovanni,

Unfortunately Giovanni wasn't in the best of moods. Reports from Team Flare defectors revealed that they had brought some sort of structure to this world. Combine that with the fact that three of his own agents almost got killed twice in a row signifies that something dangerous was brought here. As the trio was arguing amongst itself, the leader of Team Rocket yelled out in a booming voice so as to get their attention.

"Idiots! I have an order for you three, as you no doubt understand, you were clearly outmatched by these figures you have told me about. I've recieved a similar statement from one of our reconnaissance operatives of a similar figure in the Kalosian Badlands. Between the Badlands figure, this...Courier and the one you call Ulysses. I believe all three are connected in some way. I want you to keep a watchful eye out for all three, we're trying to expand our operations into Kalos..but these events could end progress immediately, know that you three could possibly be killed in the line of duty, to which I am increasing your payment ten-fold...should you survive."

The Rocket Trio was astounded, ten times the normal pay? Sounds a lot more enticing than the vacation they were hoping for. Jessie spoke for group.

"Yes sir! We won't let you down."

"Glad to hear it, your next location is Lumiose City in preparation for the Conference. Headquarters signing off."

With the flick of a button the television was shut off, Giovanni looked towards his large-screen window, staring towards the bright blue sky and the clouds that merged with it seamlessly. Giovanni offered himself a couple of his own thoughts.

"So...it appears that Team Flare is paying for their own stupidity. Lysandre should've known better than to mess with the natural order...though I wonder, what does he have to gain from all this?"

Deciding best not to dwell upon the thoughts of the supposed madman, Giovanni figured a drink was in order, and spoke into his intercom.

"Matori, bring me a bottle of Saffronian Wine please."

The voice on the other end, clearly female, responded rather briskly.

"Right away Sir, shall I bring anything else up?"

"Not at all, however, if you would, would you please put all of my calls on hold? I feel the need to relax for the rest of the day."

"R-right away sir."

Giovanni figured that it was going to be a long couple of days until any real story came from that trio of circus clowns, they may have been idiots as a whole, but their disguises and impersonations made them spies that were second to none. Even he had to be impressed by the quality of their equipment...He wondered how they got it.

Giovanni pulled up the budget for Team Rocket and was astounded...15 million had been taken out in the four years since the Trio began chasing this Ash kid...Giovanni was nauseous, how did those idiots manage to spend the equivalent of the Johto's Defense Budget?!

Though he was confused, Giovanni felt neither anger nor stress...He felt winded, so much so that he slumped into his chair.

"I swear...those idiots are going to be the death of me."


	25. Eminence Front

Author's Note - Trust me, hate discussing politics in general.

Now onto the Rocket Leader. I've also always figured Giovanni to be the type who knows what buttons he can and can't push regarding the pokemon world, why do you think Team Rocket is the only organization that hasn't captured a single legendary? They created one of course, but to capture one is like shooting nature in the foot. Team Rocket prefers profit, like the Mob of the pokemon world, they seemingly don't want domination or destruction, simply profit. I'd go as far as to say they're psuedo-good guys, possibly keeping other organizations in check.

* * *

 _"Freedom lies in being bold"_

Robert Frost

* * *

Dateline: Sometime after the Vertibird crash  
Location: The Count Deku Tre-erm Ramos' Gym, Coumarine City Outskirts

* * *

Ulysses and Arcade Gannon; One was a veteran legionnaire with a massive philosophists complex. Another was a doctor who preferred the sword to the syringe, both men had fought and killed numerous opponents...but they had just slain their most challenging opponent yet.

...

...

*DING*

Ramos' voice can be heard in what appears to be the kitchen from several chapters ago.

"it's finished! And it only took you an hour and a half. quite an accomplishment considering you two said you never cooked before."

Ulysses, wearing that hilariously green apron, stared at the oven, preparing to take out the freshly baked pie with...his bare hands? Ramos and Arcade looked equally worried, shocked and stunned.

"Sonny..don't you think you should wear a glove or something? Your hand could seriously get hurt."

Ulysses looked blankly at his hands.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

Arcade spoke up next.

"What do they give you when you join the Legion? I think the Followers need some of whatever it is."

Sawk and Throh, ever-relaxing, spat out the tea both of them were drinking when they saw Ulysses holding a freshly-baked pie with his bare hands, Boris sat in the air eating some sort of cookie with barely a care in the world.

Arcades team was different. Lilligant finally found a camera and, oddly enough, knew how to use it, much to Arcade's chagrin. Pokevision was going to get a laugh out of this one she figured. Audino was giggling to no end whilst Flabebe looked remorseful for her human companion, so much so that she figured a tiny adorable hug would cheer him up.

Indeed it did, Gannon slightly perked up at the tiny flying flower holder and smiled calmly.

"Thanks for that, personally this was more stressful than relieving...At least I got to see a legionnaire wearing an apron. That's one more off my bucket list."

Ramos was too into finishing the last touches of the pie to hear any of Gannon's conversation, so much so that he instantly yelled at the top of his lungs, scaring everyone and causing Ulysses to put one foot back.

"Now we just need to add the toppings! Let me think..ah, some pecha berries go great with Lums."

Amidst all the commotion in the kitchen we turn to the perspective of the pokemon, with the Lilligant being first to talk to one of Ulysses pokemon, her accent being somewhat similar to that of a valley girl. She decided upon talking to the Gengar, Boris.

"So, buddy, how long have you been traveling with lots 0'locks over there?" Referring to Ulysses' famous dreads.

Boris responded, his tone of voice was deep and similar to his name, akin to that of slavic origin. (Good god I've just noticed the link I set up...)

"I've been with the guide since yesterday, he offered me kindness and adventure in my rather drab life in return for being his companion, those two have a similar story, you're free to ask though."

"Thanks...Hey Audino, Flabebe, how you feeling about this entire scenario?"

Audino, with a lush accent close to that of the french, responded briskly.

"It is...rather intersting...I was expecting to go dig for roots and berries, not fight truands (Mobsters) in the middle of deserts."

"Well Gannon did that one for us...I personally wanted to beat them to pulps!"

"You are quite the violent one, no?"

"Are you kidding? I could've been the best at one time! I could fight a Machamp with my eyes closed for Arceus' sake! I was my trainers best pokemon!" Lillagant waving her leaf..arm? Dismissively.

Flabebe, armed with an adorably tiny sounding voice, spoke up next.

"So what happened to your trainer?"

"Alright, so get this. I came from Unova, so did my trainer, these jukes from something called Team Plasma or something force him to let me free. I'm just sitting here confused...then annoyed..then angry...I ran into a group of Team Plasma grunts, so I did what I felt was only necessary."

Audino was next, with Ulysses' pokemon listening in.

"I'm almost afraid to ask ma chère..."

"Well...most pokemon believe we Lilligant don't have teeth...I happily proved them wrong. Got a tally of six grunts and countless pokemon before Sycamore, guy was on vacation believe it or not, found me trying to gnaw on one of the still-living victims like a chew toy.."

everyone shuddered. Boris spoke up.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side...I'm dead...but not that dead."

Sawk and Throh surprisingly came up next, While both men spoke in a voice equal to that of a buddhist monk. Sawk was clearly the one who spoke for both of them.

"You were consumed by rage, controlled by anger, no need to feel that anymore...yes?"

Lilligant simply nodded, then looked towards the Gengar, curious about something.

"I'm wondering...Boris, why are you the only one with a name?"

"Ah, that is a good question..It was given to me by a human long ago..He was an odd one, but his kindness was second to none, it's a shame he passed on...the fight he gave was extraordinally so."

"So why didn't you help?"

"Understand I was a young Gengar then. I had been killed at a young age in a past life only several years before...I hardly even knew how to fight in that time...I only did what came naturally from me...run. I regret the action to this day."

"Easy bud, no need to get emotional or anything, just wanted to ask a simple question."

Audino noticed that both parties trainers, she supposed they were trainers at least, were finished with the pie. Ulysses looked exhausted and annoyed whilst Gannon was enamored by the smell of the pie, all six pokemon, not including Ramos' group that had had materialized around the same time, wanted to see if they could get a small piece of the heaven-sent dessert. Ramos of course intervened.

"Now calm down everyone, each and every one of us is going to get a piece of the pie."

Every pokemon gave its own cheer while the two wastelanders looked on, confused. Gannon and Ulysses never had pie before...they'd heard legends of old recipes for cookies, but it's believed that the last ones were baked mainly in Vault City...mainly for the citizens unfortunately.

Ramos had gone to set up a table, Ulysses checked the sky...it appeared that they had been here for several hours, judging from the suns angling. Gannon was busy helping Ramos set said table up for a quick meal. Sawk and Throh figured some meditation would do until everything was ready, meanwhile there was Boris, confused as his trainer was staring towards the great forests that seemed to blanket Kalos.

"Gen?"

"Huh? Ah, Boris, is something troubling you my lavender friend?"

"Gen-Gen Gar?"

Boris was asking if Ulysses was planning to ever truly capture them.

"I'm...sorry? I don't understand."

Boris noticed a pokeball on an island counter in the kitchen, he picked it up and started moving towards Ramos in the other room, with Ulysses in tow.

Ramos and Gannon were busy setting up a long table in what was clearly a dining room, Ramos had listened in on what Gannon and Ulysses spoke of, at first he was worried, these men clearly had come from a rather destructive land. It warmed the old man's heart, however, when Ulysses spoke of saving Kalos from whatever unholy terror he was speaking of, Ramos was a believer of mythology, such was his love of nature that he figured there was only one pokemon that he knew of with such destructive power that Ulysses had described.

"The one your friend was speaking of earlier, it is known as Zygarde."

This stopped Gannon dead-cold in his movements.

"Pardon me?"

"I heard you and your friend Ulysses talking earlier...I thought you were criminals at first, but then I remembered that legendaries have been attacked rather frequently lately...much more so than the days of old."

"So do you know what Ulysses was describing?"

"Indeed I do young man, it is a creature known as Zygarde...but there isn't just one, no there are hundreds upon millions of them, why they could be around us as I speak."

"That's...just creepy."

"Luckily they aren't a threat alone...their real power comes from bonding together, Zygarde combinations are extremely dangerous forces of nature with the power to manipulate the planets flora. It's said that they are responsible for seeding the planet in greenery, only the areas they deem unworthy are left as blistering deserts or frigid icelands."

"So they're nature in animal form? Interesting...what do they look like?"

"For single ones? They look somewhat like a green plant cell, otherwise I haven't a clue...I just know that a combination hasn't been seen in decades, perhaps even centuries...If such a being should ever be seen, something terrible has clearly happened."

"Uh huh...and you know this how?" Gannon was moving his hand in a 'go on' motion.

"It's rather simple...You learn this kind of stuff when you live inside a tree for over half of your life, oh, lookie who it is, Ulysses was it?"

Behind Gannon stood Ulysses, calmly looking at the now-settled table, with Ramos heading off to get the pie and utensils, Gannon nodded to Ulysses, conveying that Ramos had indeed overheard them. The elderly gym leader returned with the pie cut into equal segments for everyone, a feat Gannon claimed was impossible.

"It's not impossible now m'boy, thanks to a handy-dandy piece equalizer from a bright young inventor, everybody dig in!."

* * *

Elsewhere, we see Six and company, minus the main Remnants cadre and Clemont, moving west towards Shallour City, coming across the road north, Six was attacked...or rather he was fumbled slightly, by a young girl wearing rollerblades, someone Ash and the team knew well.

"Hey Korrina! How are ya?"

The girl now revealed as Korrina smiled up at the raven-haired boy.

"Not too bad, things were weird yesterday though. Who's the tank in front of me? Who's the tank behind you? Where's the battlefield at? I wanna join."

Six and Johnson shared a confused shrug, this girl was an oddity, that much the courier knew for sure. Johnson happily spoke for the two.

"Name's Old Man Johnson, this is my teammate Six."

"Six? No name or anything? You remind me of one of those robotic pokemon...what were they? Oh! Porygon, like Porygon one or Porygon two."

Serena intervened before the girl went too far off topic.

"Calm down Korrina, so why was yesterday weird?"

"Oh, sorry. So get this, Team Rocket comes out of nowhere as usual...only this time they got some sort of staff-wielding super dude following along...except he wasn't."

"Staff-wielding?"

Six thought the two words sounded familiar.

"Super dude?...Huh, you must mean Ulysses, wore a trenchcoat? Sounded like someone who would do great on radio?"

Korrina simply nodded then spoke excitedly.

"Yeah, he thought a battle with Team Rocket was something like a fist fight, but his pokemon wanted to fight instead of him, guy still wiped the floor with the Rockets!"

Bonnie, in all her adorable wisdom, chimed in.

"I would guess that he's in Coumarine City by now."

"Well...Johnson, feel like hoofing it over to Coumarine?"

Six didn't have enough time to recieve an answer, his walkie that was given to him by Judah was spitting out static mixed with words, thankfully the movement of several dials fixed that, with Kregers voice bouncing from the other end.

"Good news courier, we've got the girl up and flying again, we'd come getcha...but we aren't sure where you are."

"Hang on Kreger, think the bird can carry all of us?"

"Well...if we move several containers and position them as seating then maybe...just maybe."

"Gotcha, kiddo with the yellow mouse said there was a town west of us, land and meet us there, feeling sort of hungry and I'm sure everyone else is too."

"Hearing ya Courier, we'll meet you in town I suppose...you sure no one'll question about why we have an army's arsenal? I know they're naive up here, but they can't be that dense."

Six hadn't thought about that...Maybe they could passs themselves off as a merc group, even better a security firm...That'll do the ticket!

"We'll pass ourselves off as a private security sector, heard those are popping up like flies out in the Eastern Commonwealth."

"Well should we get a name? I'm pretty sure that 'The Enclave' wouldn't exactly drive the point home."

"Hm...I got it, Tango Company."

"Tango Comp...You've gotta be kidding me, whatever Courier, better hope your farce works. Verti is out."

With a click on the other end signifying that Kreger turned his walkie off, Six and Company eventually reached Shallour City, again Six was mesmerized just as much as Ulysses was during his visit.

"So that's what a city's supposed to look like? Damn man..."

Alexa and Viola took to glaring daggers at the courier, informing him that language such as his was unsuitable for present company.

* * *

Meanwhile; William, Roxie and the Dragonite were a short distance away, with the Dragonite eating some random berries. Roxie was skeptical of the creatures choice in foodstuffs.

"You sure those are edible? I don't exactly trust...bright blue colors to be anything good if its food."

The dragonite spoke in a mid-ranged tone reminiscent of that to an Austrailian.

"Not quite sure watcha worried about, I've eaten my fair share of poisonous berries. Us Dragonites are known for our fairly high appetites, why one of us in my group almost swallowed an Ekans one time, bloody thing looked right like a piece of spaghetti to the poor sod..Probably because he was colorblind."

William, curious about the story, looked on.

"So what happened to the Ekans?"

"Thing was in his mouth, fairly small one, around six inches, it bit his tongue, next thing he knew his tongue was being bitten by an angry little snake pokemon. None of us ever laughed so hard before...Right forgot to introduce myself, name's Hammock."

Roxie took a double-take.

"Hammock? As in the things they hang between tree's?"

"Very same miss. I'm retired basically...was a battler for a while, I was the tank on my trainers team."

While Roxie stood confused, William felt saddened at the point of hearing about Hammocks trainer.

"What happened to your trainer?"

"Aye, the sheila let me go, she lost the Hoenn League, so she figured it was customary to release all her pokemon as a thank you, we all went our separate ways...haven't heard from any of them in years."

"How long has it been?"

"I'd say around ten years m'boy, so what are your names? I'm not one to call pokemon by their species, don't want to call you Quilladin or Venemoth."

Roxie was annoyed, she heard this term thrown around too many times.

"I'm a Cazador...not a Venemoth. My name's Roxie, this adorable armored shell behind me is William."

"Hiya!"

"G'day to y'all then, tell me, what's your trainer like? Seems a tad old to be going on a journey don'tcha think?"

"I've been with the guy a while before we ended up here, I helped take back control of Big Mountain, specifically the melding labs."

"And I was his first pokemon! I actually sort of bumped into him when I was a little Chespin, his friends back home are sort of weird honestly."

Roxie muffled a laugh.

"Heh, no doubt about that, Klein always annoyed me when that loud voice of his. Dala always mentioned something like him leaving his caps lock on..whatever that is. But Six is a decent person, no need to worry."

"Gotcha, want to try a berry? Guaranteed delicious or your money back."

"But they're free...I'm from a land of bottlecap currency and even I know they're free, hell just give me one."

"Me too, is that an Oran Berry?!"

* * *

Whilst the Dragonite was serving the two other creatures what were seemingly Oran Berries, we turn to the sky, a lone Vertibird strafed through the air like an eagle in mid-flight. None were observing the bird save for two pairs of goggles cloaked in the shadows. A masculine tone piped in, expressing its concern.

"Do you think that thing in the sky has something to do with this 'courier'? How do we know they aren't dangerous?" To which a feminine voice happily chided in.

"It's simple, they're traveling with the twerps, I doubt they'd actually attack us. More than likely the pikachu's twerp would prevent them from causing us any actual damage."

"Well...I guess so..I don't like this though, somethings off."

"We'll save your concerns for AFTER we capture the pikachu, we'll also interrogate that courier, he knows some way inside that complex."

"You're still on about that? Why couldn't Meowth just fly us in?"

"I...didn't think about that actually. Very well, we kidnap pikachu then fly due south via the balloon. Commence Operation Red, White and Pikachu!"

The shadow held some sort of victory pose...clearly to be shown to nobody at all, because anime in general is just that in your face.

...

...

"That was the worst pun I've ever heard you make Jessie..."

"Shut up James! Let's see if Meowth has the machine ready."

* * *

\- Yep, villians are going to get to meet psuedo-villians...bad guys gone good? What are the Enclave at this point? I don't know at this point. All I know is that people are surely wondering when the action happens. Check in next chapter, we might also get to see everybody's favorite flying brains.

Yes I know someone who went by Hammock. I had a co-worker who moved here from Canberra several years ago, the guy's known for sleeping during his hour lunch break before the company tanked, the guy found work as a diesel mechanic for a NAPA auto shop. I also got a job from a local lumber company for a driver, kinda sucks as my truck hates driving in low-gear.


	26. Run Through The Jungle

Author's Note - Yeah, Tango Company, a play on Talon Company if you will (Could also be mistaken for a company offering practice of the famed tango itself)...I'm sure that the Wasteland is somewhat connected by now, so I'm sure that Six has heard of the likes of the Minutemen and the Gunners, and probably the Institute coursers to a lesser extent. definitely not the Lone Survivor though, for I shalt not mention them, besides that happens in 2287...Prediction-wise rumors are going about speaking of a Fallout New Orleans possibly in the works. Guess Mafia 3 rubbed off of Bethesda...Meanwhile I'm just sitting here letting the Nexus serve as my unlimited expansion pack for Fallout and Skyrim. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

 _"Defeat doesn't finish a man, quit does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits."_

Richard Nixon

* * *

The sight that lay before Six and Company was awe-inspiring...at least to some, they had managed to reach Shalour City. Whilst some, like Bonnie, took in the familiar crisp coastal air, others, namely Six and Johnson, were amazed by the beautiful plethora of colors mixing in the distance. With Six measuring both men's thoughts.

"Hot damn, pardon my french but this..this is too friggin amazing man, New Reno or Lake Mead has nothing on this!"

Serena piped in.

"You've never seen anything like Shalour huh? There are quite a few cities similar to it."

Johnson interrupted next, holding a calm, knowing smile.

"There are places back home that dot the coast...but nothing this colorful, green or...well harmless really. The Enclave usually avoided big cities for fear of ghouls or super mutants.."

This put everyone, aside from Six and Johnson, on edge, even Six's pokemon, minus Roxie because she'd been there and really doesn't count, was curious. Ash offered his annoying two cents.

"So you just steered away from people who might've needed your help?"

"WE steered away from clear, certain death, do me a favor son. Never speak up against any of us unless you know what we've been through. Mind your elders boy."

"Johnson's right, painful as it is to say, more than likely none of you would survive in the wastes, it'd probably be the radiation that gets you first."

Everyone just stared on in horror, was it really as bad as the courier said it was? Alexa and Viola, equally shocked, began relaying to each other that perhaps they made a wrong choice in traveling alongside Ash and the group temporarily, Alexa was hesitant to leave the cadre as she was THIS close to getting her big debut.

"I don't know Viola, they seem pretty nice for coming from such a terrible place."

"That's what I'm worried about, why are they so kind? If it's as bad as they say, they would be more wary. More vigilant." Viola was looking the two tanks over, both men, some distance away, were obviously talking to one another, what it was about was another story. Viola glared at the two, immediately suspicious of their intentions.

The tension in the group didn't waiver, if anything the air was harder to breathe for everyone excluding Bonnie and the pokemon, including Roxie. Six knew that the Wasteland had a different system than that of Kalos or whatever the hell it was, but damn it all they could at least respect the differences! Six tried to talk to one of the others in the group, tried as in he nor Johnson could keep their pace with the light-footed children. Bonnie looked back, signaling to everyone else that the two armor-clad warriors were clearly getting exhausted. Just in time too, as they had just reached Shalour Square, Ash took a deep breath and let his pokemon loose, he then turned to Six and Johnson, both men around several yards behind. Six was first to speak, nearly out of breathe with Johnson looking on worriedly.

"Jesus Christ, think the gyro motors are off balance, maybe a structural grid broke o-AGH SHIT!"

*CLANK*

Six fell face first into the ground below, behind him you could see bootmarks where his massive metal footprint was beginning to show, Johnson helped lift Six back up, as did the rest of the group, each spouting a different sentence to voice their thoughts, who said what isn't exactly known to the Courier.

"Why is he so heavy?!"

"Who needs stuff like this anyway?"

"Hey look a penny!"

"Not now Bonnie! Stand back! I better get paid double the salary from Lumiose Press for this!"

"Who cares about payment?! I'd be happy if I don't get crushed!"

With the courier finally upright, his armor was disengaged and began to open, revealing our hero clad in what appeared to be a red mechanical jumpsuit (RobCo Bias, come on and fight me). The armor was clearly in need of repairs, a shame that heavy raiders weren't as common here as they were in the Mojave, our courier had to make do somehow. Six issued a single order, directed towards Johnson.

"Johnson, bring me a trashcan, preferably a large one."

"...Pardon me Courier? Did you say a trashcan?"

"Yeah, one of those big ones on wheels that are used by casino's or restaurants."

"You mean a dumpster? Why would you need a big green dumpster for? You aren't throwing the suit away are you?"

"Of course not. What do you think I am, crazy? I'm going to fix it of course!"

Everyone's jaws dropped, either Six was a closet genius or he had been stung by a Beedrill one too many times in the head. Either way, Johnson complied, asking for help from Ash, Alexa and Viola. Serena and Bonnie ran off to who knows where. Six sighed, this simply wasn't his day.

"Let's see...if I can attach a handle to the right leg's gyro-motor. I should be able to-"

* * *

\- Several moments later

* * *

By the unholy powers of Jury Rigging, Six had managed to repair a full suit of power armor, T-51B mind you, with a dumpster and only a dumpster. None knew the secrets save for the Courier, even his companions in the Mojave considered him a freak of nature, in the Mojave! Nevertheless, Six's armor was functioning as it should...strangely enough. Everyone had differing reactions, from Ash's bewilderment to onlookers taking surprise of the mechanical marvel's expertise with metal. Bonnie wondered if he should give pointers to Clemont on building something that wouldn't explode.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please hold your applause. I can't hold all this curiosity you're bringing to me."

*BOOM*

Everyone looked to the sky, it was the Enclave's Vertibird flying rather precariously towards the Mastery Tower whilst being surrounded by small black clouds. Six had voiced the thought that everyone had in mind.

"Oh Christ almighty."

Six noticed one other detail. That was a flak shell he had seen...mainly it was usually a large calibre weapon such as an autocannon or missile launcher that could fire such shells. Six turned to the group, prepping his armor for re-activation.

"Know anyone that uses anything like bazooka's or launchers? Those're flak shells they're firing up there!" Six had prepared his light machine gun, fully locked into his armor, the streets were empty, not a soul in sight now...where the actual hell was the law enforcement?! It was here that Six and Company heard several familiar voices.

"Prepare for trouble!"

It couldn't be...

"And make it double!"

Oh hell in a handbag, it was. Six pulled a grenade from his pouch. Flashbang, works best against certain loudmouths, Six and Johnson put themselves towards the front of the team, looking back, Six noticed that the Verti landed near a port, good. The streets were eerily empty, moments earlier being filled with activity, it creeped Six out, this must've been what it was like before the bombs fell back home. Both Courier and Remnant soldier nodded to each other, prepared to face the full force of whatever was coming their way.

Two figures approached the team from the southern edge of town, evidently taking full notice of the two armor-clad warriors facing them full-front. The figures revealed themselves to be that of Jessie and James. Six conveyed his thoughts freely, lifting his light machine gun to take slight aim.

"You dumbasses again? Don't think I don't know who you are. What business do you have here?"

Jessie, ever the sly one one, smirked and yelled across the square to the courier.

"Smart aren't you? No worries, we just want two things right now, and we're getting them both by any means possible! Your battle with Team Flare? We observed how dangerous your place really is...All the more reason to claim it for Team Rocket."

"Yeah you know what? Piss off, you're not getting anything besides a tombstone with your epitaph etched on."

"Figured you would say that." Jessie walked over to James, speaking into what was apparently a holo-caster.

"Meowth, is it ready yet?"

"Give me a few more minutes woman! It's rocket science I'm dealin with here!"

*Sigh* "Very Well...suppose we'll have to bide our time, come on out Gourgeist! James, you too."

With Inkay and Gourgeist out of their balls, Six and Johnson prepped their weapons...only to be stopped by a small number of attacks on their backs. To say Courier Six was angry is an understatement.

"Damnit kid! Do you understand what's at stake here? I'm not letting these _morons_ lay claim to the biggest scientific center across the whole damned planet!"

Ash wasn't going to let up, ordering several of his pokemon to lay a moderately powered move to stun the wasteland warrior...it didn't faze him at all, this guy wasn't human, he couldn't have been. Jesse and James were stunned beyond reprisal, the courier had actually taken hits from Ash's team without as much as a scratch, the boy issued an order to his Goodra, the courier wasn't about to attack anyone on his watch. Even if they were villians

"Goodra, Dragon Pulse on Six!"

The gooey dragon was confused, but abided anyway, firing a bright pulse of light that made impact with the courier's armor. With dust settling, the courier was still standing, just what the Rockets were somewhat expecting. What they weren't hoping for was the fact that Six was charging towards them full speed with a super sledge.

The felling of several small trees resulted from Courier Six's rage, there was no way that these three were going to complete any plan to attack the mountain and there was no way any little kid was going to stop him. Lifting his sledge up from the ground, Six made eye contact with the four terrified gazes of Team Rocket several yards to his front, he glared at the four for several seconds, in the distance, he could hear rumbling treads in the distance, our courier looked to the right for a moment, just enough time for James to order an ink attack.

Looking back towards the group, Six was met with darkness, his visor had been hit with...something...it was sticky and made it hard to see, forcing the courier to tear his helmet off. He looked around, they were clearly near a shop of sorts, behind Six stood the children, looking on warily and terrified equally so, it almost broke his heart, but these morons clearly caused enough concern for him to act on instinct...what was odd was the fact that they weren't looking at him, they were looking above him, now that he thought about it, it had gotten darker for some reason, the courier found out why as soon as he tilted his head up, muttering two words that he spoke too often.

"Shit man..."

Above the courier stood a robotic...Meowth? Yes you heard right, a giant robotic Meowth on treads, standing nearly forty feet in height. Six couldn't speak, neither could the rest of the group save for Johnson, the man barely looked fazed. Ash was also unfazed by the machinery, preparing his team to attack a whole different target.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Jesse and James were back to their kosher attitudes, beaming their stupidly evil grins as though they had taken a rare candy from a trainer. Jesse of course introduced their robotic monstrosity.

"Allow us to give you the honor of facing up to the Roboto-Meowth 7000!" Six wasn't impressed, neither was Bonnie or Johnson, all three were curious when Jesse mentioned the name, mainly Bonnie relayed the thought that the three clearly had.

"7000? What happened to the other six Roboto-Meowths you guys built?"

"Shut it you little twerp! We've been experimenting, and we're delivering a product impenetrable to Pikachu's electric attacks! Of course it'll have to prove itself against your barbaric friend here as we-"

"Woah woah hold the phone ya red-haired banshee." Six felt the need to interrupt her annoying speech. "You telling me that you've built this giant war machine just to capture that tiny ass mouse?" Six held the charade purely as a distraction, he figured a little burst to their bubble was the ticket to knocking these fools on their asses...rather a massive burst.

"PIKA?!"

"I'm telling the truth buddy, seems like a waste of resources isn't it? Besides, you got too many other problems facing you, take this for example." Six, being a master of explosives as a Nurse Joy was to self-replication (Oh yes. I went there.), took out several handy blocks of clay, each with a small grid of wires and a tiny flashing light. "This right here is two pounds of C4, this stuff'll blow a couple of city blocks into kingdom come, it can also *Ha-rumph (Sounds of throwing C4 onto Roboto-Meowth)* blow your giant friggin robot into scrap metal, perfect material for fixing my suit after all the trouble you *Alley-oop* gave me, saves *Whoosh, Click* me the trouble of scavenging for parts...unfortunate that I've already repaired the knights suit."

After Six had finished his small speech, the robot was covered in no more than five blocks of the clay explosive. Team Rocket was looking evidently worried now. As were those behind him.

"You're clearly doing your jobs and I can respect that...I don't like you though, so count that out. In my eyes you're simply a problem, you know what we say about problems back home?" Team Rocket shook their heads, Meowth was undoubtedly prepared for the worst..unless he acted quick. "The best way to solve a problem is make it go away."

As soon as Six was prepared to press the detonator, he heard a whirring sound, above him came down an arm, coming close to smashing down on the courier. While our wastelander had barely dodged the attack, he had also lost the detonator, that thing was needed and fast. Ash and company was brought out of their stupor and Serena immediately called out her team as well. It was an all-out brawl.

Six was assisted up by Johnson, who proceeded to attack the robotic terror with a blaze of laser fire, of which it surprisingly was having little to no effect at all. Before Ash's team could assist, they were faced with the Rocket Duo plus that overpowered prick Wobuffet, Six was on his own for the time being, at least he thought he was. Korrina was off some distance away, she and some sort of blue dog were standing together in a shining blue light, clad in some dramatic pose. Six hollered out to her.

"Hey! Would love some of your help here rollerblades!"

"Give me a moment! I'm making sure Lucario is ready too!"

Ready for what? Screw it, he didn't have time to wait and find out, digging around, Six finally found the detonator! Immediately grabbing it, he was met with the hand of Jesse, one glared daggers at the other, with Six speaking up first, flashing his famed gamblers grin...well, as much of a smile as you could see under that Norris-esque beard.

"Sorry m'dear, a gentleman can't kiss and tell, now if you don't mind *Sounds of Jesse getting pushed by Six's big-ass boot*, I have a fireworks show to start." Six moved to a space over near what appeared to be a fountain, streets still empty and still no form of law enforcement. Six yelled to the group still fighting. "Everyone back away! Fire in five!" Six managed to find the lmg he was still carrying, time for the old girl to shine.

Taking aim at the Rockets, simple suppressive fire to the ground should scare 'em away, firing around three ten-round bursts, he had forced the opposing group into cover whilst Johnson had gotten the kids plus Viola and Alexa back to the nearby square, the elderly Enclaver gave the all clear to 'bring 'er down'.

"Got it, thanks Johnson...Fire in the hole!"

With the press of a button, each of the clay squares starting to blink with a tiny red light. The explosion had also destroyed the, thankfully unoccupied, shop adjacent to the bot, a massive cloud of dust settled throughout their arena, adding an aura of tension, when it finally settled, Six was astounded.

"The damn things still standing?! That should've done it."

The Rocket's machination was only partially destroyed, the treads completely gone, now replaced with strange spidery legs, six in all...These guys really thought it through this time. Meowth spoke through a loudspeaker, mocking the attempt of destruction.

"Think you can beat us down huh? Let's see how ya feel after we capture dat pikachu!" Everyone prepared for a much tougher fight.

Unfortunately, the Rocket's didn't weigh in another factor, that factor was the Vertibird...A well-armed, gatling gun-laden Vertibird to be exact,the familiar sounds of the Enclave's infamous propaganda piece proved to be heaven to the ears of Six, as did its hardpoint-mounted missile launcher, immediately firing a barrage of three missiles aimed straight at the bot, causing it to spectacularly topple down to the ground below and erupt into an anime-esque explosion.

Six and the crew, the Verti included, stared on as Team Rocket shouted their signature catchphrase. You know what it is, you love it, you hate it!

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

With the shimmer of what appeared to be a star, Team Rocket was gone...Six wondered what the hell just happened, but brushed it off as the Vertibird landed, our courier prepared to get aboard, any more time standing here and people would start asking questions. Ash certainly had some.

"So are we just leaving without a single explanation?"

The courier, helmet in hand, looked over to Ash rather hurriedly.

"Well I am, you can walk for all I'm concerned. I'm not playing a hero card today kid, so you can either stick around or get on board."

Before Ash could say anything, Korrina and her Lucario pushed everyone aside, garnering a seat for each other. Six knew it was going to be a tight fit for everyone, but each of the group, Dragonite included, managed to fit. Bonnie said the thing on everyone's minds...and stomachs

"I thought we came here to get something to eat?"

Clemont, sitting in the Co-pilots seat, excitedly chimed in.

"Well Bonnie, I heard there's a special at Restaurant Le Wow! How about we all get a bite there? Dad knows the owner."

Six checked the LIMA, surprisingly undamaged. Checking the messages, he learned that the Tank had began limited communications with a professor of some sort...Six figured that one of the kids knew the man.

"Hey, any of you know a 'Professor Sycamore'?"

Everyone native to the realm raised their hands and smiles plastered their faces, each had a different thing to say.

"Of course! Sycamore's the leading pokemon professor in the region."

"Truly a scientist without measure in the field of mega-evolution!"

"It's because of him that I have Braixen!"

Six heard enough.

"Alright alright, calm your butts. Big Mountain gave the all-clear to actually commence talks with one Professor Sycamore of Lumiose City...the Tank said that we should visit him."

Judah Kreger was intrigued by this.

"Big Mountain? You mean they're actually talking to people now?"

"Yeah, says here that they've... _officially ended 200 plus years of isolation and non-negotiation._ "

Ash and Company was shocked, 200 years? Then again, all except Alexa and Viola knew that the Tank wasn't completely human. Perhaps the Tank had given Sycamore some assistance?

"Hang on for a sec...huh, says here in a memo they sent me, ' _A_ _pplicatory Usage Regarding Evolutionary Mega-Stones'._ They want this delivered to Sycamore pronto apparently."

Clemont moved in, ever questioning.

"Exactly why you? You said they made contact right?"

"Yeah, they said that the data contained in the file is too delicate to be offloaded by normal means, fears of data-mining and such...I don't know. I'm not a technical guy."

"So what are you then?"

"I'm a guy who can fix a suit of power armor with a dumpster, that's who."

The Vertibird took to the sky, the flight being warily silent, Six broke the silence, asking a question I'm sure we've all been asking.

"I'm pretty sure those morons back there say that 'blasting off' thing a lot, right?" Ash and Serena gave a simple nod. "If they take off from that distance, shouldn't every bone in their bodies be broken as soon as they land?"

Ash added his own thoughts.

"Y'know, never thought about that, I've always wondered why they always chase us, they've been following me since Kanto, personally I'd wish they'd leave me and Pikachu alone."

"Well, take it from me kiddo, you're stuck with me unfortunately, so that's less of a chance of them attacking you."

"Stuck with you? What do you mean?"

Everyone, including the Remnants, prepared to listen to Six speak his view on the situation.

"Long story short, I have to protect your a-butt from some shi-stupid legendary monstrosity..as was relayed to me from a giant multi-colored deer...Such is the prophecy."

"Multi-colored deer? You mean Xerneas, as in THE legendary Xerneas?"

"Yeah, that lanky jerk...ugh. I need to retire."

Several moments passed before Six noticed that most everyone, minus those up front, were either asleep or preparing to sleep. William and Roxie had somehow managed to get on the power armor's lap while Hammock had taken to the floor. Six looked outside a small window, the forest and coast down below almost melded together, the sky was glowing a deep orange hue and stars were beginning to show. The courier managed only one thought in his mind before succumbing to the fate of sleep.

"What the hell did you get yourself into man?"

* * *

Author's Note; I'll be honest, can't write action scenes. My slow pace of transitioning doesn't really fit well with the anime series, then again I'm a guy who played New Vegas on Survival. on the hardest difficulty, I'm a sadist after all. Anyway, let me know how you feel about this piece. Does it need to go faster or is it good as it stands? Does more exposition need to be explained? Less? Cheers to you all and have a great day.


	27. Hard Day's Night

Author's Note - More exposition would be needed I suppose, looking back I noticed that it might be harder for some people to keep pace. I'm involving a cast of nearly a dozen I'd reckon, on the Ash question. I've always painted Ash as that know-it-all kid who coincidentally fell under the gaze of Ho-oh by mistake. Ash, in my mind at least, is willing to put himself in danger to protect others, almost arrogantly so. Remember the first movie? Where MewTwo converted him into the modern rendition of the Statue of David? The kid may as well have been killed no less than...three times I suppose? It pains me to almost compare him to the Courier in a sense; except for the courier, the sky's the limit where no shits are given. Survival mode in New Vegas? My well-spent high school years playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R prepared me for that challenge...even though I died some dozen times, Shadows of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat did teach me the values of saving before every corner.

* * *

" _We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."_

Plato

* * *

East of Coumarine City was a wandering duo consisting of Ulysses and Gannon, both had left the city's resident gym several hours ago, the sun setting on them and their respective teammates. Both men were wary of darkness; the perfect element for many an ambush, whilst Gannon gripped his defender, Ulysses had equipped his flagpole, ever watching the trees. It didn't help that neither were familiar with closed spaces, some might even say they were claustrophobic in a sense, as both were used to open desert ranges and the like. Gannon spoke up first, easing the tension that had cropped up from the environment.

"So Ulysses, how do you know Six exactly? I've known the guy for five years and he never really mentioned you." The pokemon of both teams were following closer, eager to listen in.

"Simple reason that you don't know me. I told the courier to let my legend die long ago, as for my history with him. Long and complicated, visit the Divide if you wish to know it."

"Yeah...I'm figuring, on the off chance of course, that we'll never get back home...probably too late for that now I'd suppose."

"Hmmph, typical Follower, giving up at the first sign of a loss, take me as an example. I went back to the Divide despite the loss."

"The loss of what exactly?"

"A new place to call home, the courier ruined it all...or so I had figured, he changed my mind. Otherwise I would be dead, my skeleton in the bowels of a missile silo."

"Ok ok, hang on for a second." Gannon stopped the group at a nearby pond, the perfect place to set down for the night. "Can you recap for me? I haven't exactly been a permanent teammate of Six's for some...three years I'd suppose."

"Very well Follower, gather some firewood, need to stave off predators looking for an easy catch."

Around a half hour had passed, the stars above were beginning to show themselves, glistening as thousands seemingly appeared from nowhere. It soothed Ulysses, if there was clearly life on other planets, what would they make of the Wasteland? Would they put it out of its misery? Would they take pity and raise humanity to its former glory? Or would they ignore it and list it as a planet with no hope of survival? Ulysses was knocked out of his stupor by Gannon, who had gathered some wood alongside Sawk and Throh, pressing two rock flints together crafted Ulysses a fire.

All the pokemon and both humans sat around the fire, looking closely, they were in a small clearing just off the path, there also sat a small pond. Ulysses prepared to tell Gannon the tale of how two couriers met.

* * *

 _Flashback to five years ago - Ulysses point of view_

* * *

 _I was angry. The single place I could call a home was destroyed by a package delivered by the Courier, I had taken to delivery work after the incident, the irony of it all, it was a farce, I served Caesar first and the Mojave second...it was during a routine check-in that I saw Six's name as a backup delivery worker for a delivery to New Vegas; asked if his name was truth, the managing dispatcher affirmed it. I told the man to 'Let Six deliver the package.'_

 _It was a simple thing, to most it was anyway...a platinum poker chip, a reminder of the sins that hounded the Old World to no end; I had hoped that the chip would die with him...perhaps it was best that it didn't._

 _The Courier had traveled across Zion, fought against the machinated horrors of Big Mountain and went against Elijah himself...and to towards the end he was STILL clueless as to my intentions._

Gannon felt the need to to interject.

"Well Six has always been that way, the man's denser than the skull of a deathclaw." Ulysses laughed a little, warming himself by the fire.

"Hah, that's true, he did know a lot more than he let on though, how else do you think both me and he are still amongst the living?"

"I've always figured that Six would try to talk than shoot...well in certain scenarios anyway."

"What do you imply Follower?"

"Long story short, he opened fire on everything Legion that was based in Nipton...wiped the entire contingent out with nothing but, presumably. a tire iron and a few grenades."

Ulysses was silent, stupified by the insanity that was surely Courier Six. nevertheless, he continued his tale.

 _Where had I stopped off from? Oh right, the Courier had arrived in the Divide as I had planned, another expectation was for the re-activation of the eyebot in the Hopeville Silo; another success. It was then that I contacted him the moment he entered Hopeville itself, many emotions surged in his speech; confusion, annoyance, but above all pure skepticism. The man knew not what he hath done, I was prepared to show him the rewards he had reaped; both for me and for him, if the Divide had a mouth. It would compare our rivalry to figures of ancient mythology; I as Oddysseus as the Courier was to Ajax, a meeting of the mind to the brawn, the word to the sword._

 _The Courier had found my notes, surprisingly enough, left behind some time earlier. I thought none would be the wiser to try and find them; eventually letting them sit, gathering in a millennia's worth of dust...I suppose I thought too little of Six, but then again the Courier's journey had only begun in Hopeville. The darkness that consumed the caverns below had gathered enough strength to announce itself to Six, the tunnel dividing Hopeville and Ashton was hungry, and the two-headed bear that came before hadn't satiated the beast._

 _"_ The darkness? Oh you mean the tunnelers, so they originated from the Divide?"

"That's correct, it all began in the Divide, but whether they were a natural mutation or another one of the crater's twisted experiments is something I don't know...it terrifies me, either outcome."

 _The Courier traversed through the ruined tunnels, eventually coming across an highway, it was here that Six had clearly seen the extent of the damage that had occurred . The Courier passed along the ruins of ancient interstate highways, their original use long since abandoned, deathclaws ran amok the ruins of cars and concrete pillars, as did those marked by the Divide...both the bear and bull had sent forces to claim the area, none made it out...alive anyway._

"What could the legion possibly have wanted with the Divide?"

"Simple enough reason, same as it was with the dam, claim it so the NCR couldn't have it; cut off supply lines, an easy route ran through the Divide, much shorter and easier to traverse than the Long 15."

 _Reaching the end of the highway. I told the Courier to launch the missile based in Ashton, sealing the fate of those marked by the Divide...The courier took off towards the Sunstone Tower, hell-bent on finding me and some answers in the process._

* * *

Meanwhile - In the Vertibird

* * *

Six had taken to sleep, the Courier rarely, if ever, dreamed; something was different though, this felt nothing like a dream...more of a nightmare. It was Nipton once again, the first place he had ever come across the legion, something was off, there were fires across the Mojave and the corpses of dead NCR lined the crosses that the Legion was famous for. Six came face to face with the first of many Legionnaires he had killed.

"Vulpes...it's been too long." Six, looking down, noticed he was bound by the wrists, rope almost tight enough to cut into the skin. He felt no pain though...

"Ave Courier, or should I say Destroyer of The Legion? A superlative title wouldn't you agree?" Behind the leader of the Frumentarii stood a raging fire, the town hall; forever burning with no sign of ever stopping.

"You should be dead, I killed you and every single Legionnaire in this damned town. I remember bashing your head in with a godforsaken tire iron." Six remained relatively calm, he knew the Legion loved exploiting weaknesses, if he held long enough then maybe they would give up...who the hell was he kidding? This was Vulpes Inculta he was talking to.

"Ah, perhaps I am dead, that's not what I'm here for...the question remains, how long have you to live? Where do you stand, now that you are Caesar, Where is your Brutus? I'm not here to simply chide you of your past; your future, on the other hand, is something you're clearly worried about, as am I."

"My future? Fuck all regarding my future, you burned down an entire town, and here you are giving me a lesson on life?"

"You're scared, you're unafraid of death but wary of life and the change that comes with it. Wake up Courier, you're not in the Mojave anymore!" Vulpes held a machete high, almost gleaming off the sun, it hurt Six's eyes just glimpsing at it. "You're somewhere far different, the fiends, raiders and mutations are the least of your problems. You've got something more at stake than a simple brute trying to stake a claim against your 'New California Republic', this whole planet's threatened and so is yours! And you're at the center of it all."

"Who the hell are you? No Legionnaire ever speaks down on Caesar...You're not Inculta...You can't even be Legion."

"Intelligent motion, now...Wake up!" Vulpes brought down his cutting tool, immediately waking the courier up in a shock.

"GAH-DAMN YOU TO HELL!"

This woke everyone up, minus Daisy who was momentarily shocked, startled by the power-armored figure being shaken from a nightmare, Ash groggily opened his eyes and turned to face Six, clearly shaken with his eyes wide open.

"You okay? You look like you'd seen a ghost."

"I..I..it's nothing...Jus-just don't worry about it...*Yawn* where are we? I see lights upon lights upon more friggin' lights."

Clemont, still awake, pulled out a map of the area. Searching around, he found close to where they might be. They were now in Lumiose City, flying just above a large gleaming white tower.

"It looks like we're above the Prism Tower! I'd propose setting down, it's close to eight o'clock now. I have plenty of space inside to sleep for tonight."

"Hold on..you live in that big sunuvabitch? That thing's gotta be twice the height of the Lucky 38!"

"I'm not sure what you compared the Prism Tower to, but It's the Lumiose City's gym, and I'm its gym leader!"

This confused Six, so this kid led his own gym? He didn't seem particularly athletic...but, as with other things, maybe it's a different term for gym, Six was feeling tired again, so he figured he argue his point at a later time.

"I..ugh screw it, let's set down...I hate these hard-ass seats they installed, what monster made this?"

Judah Kreger had only one answer.

"The Enclave...who else? Heh..."

Setting the Verti down on the grounds wouldn't be a problem, Letting Viola and Alexa out; the Courier gave a silent prayer of thanks to whatever deity existed...flying back up, the problem now was hiding the damned Vertibird from prying eyes. Clemont chimed in, his genius ready to show.

"I know we would come across a problem such as this, observe, the Prism Tower's all-access heli-door!"

near the top level of the tower opened a...simple hanger door, Six and the rest of the Enclave wondered how this kid figured a situation like this would occur...Daisy prepared to park inside the tower, silently questioning her mental state. Six, thankfully, was the one to ask each question on their minds.

"Kid...how the hell did you know something like this would occur, where did you get the money to build a hanger? Who did you get a giant-ass tower from? God himself?!"

"Details details...I kind of had too much free time before traveling with Ash, so I built and built into the tower...I even built an artificial trainer to fight for me while I'm gone!"

Good lord, this kid made Mr. House's inventions seem like child's play. There was no doubt that this kid was undoubtedly the smartest person in the entire group, probably one of the smartest in this region. Why wasn't he a head scientist in some damned laboratory? Why isn't he teaching college classes? Why the hell isn't he donating his tech to the military or law enforcement that clearly needed it?! Six took his helmet off, rubbing his eyes in annoyance, the immediate headache didn't help either.

"I...I have no words..I'm not going to argue my points...I just want to go back to sleep."

Leaving the top floor of the Tower, minus Hammock who went back to sleep inside the Vertibird, they eventually came across a temporary quarters, this one had actual beds, to the wastelanders a bed was a godsend; no straw mats or hard metal that was shaped like a bed, It was heaven on earth for the Remnants and Six respectively. The Courier noticed the kids were leaving the tower.

"Where you all going?"

Clemont responded immediately.

"We were going to stay at my father's house, this space is enough for all of you right?"

"I suppose so...I guess we'll just catch you in the morning then?"

Everyone leaving with Clemont nodded, each gave their own farewell until the next day. Six, as well as the other power-armored remnants, deactivated his his suit, leaving it next to the door frame. The courier decided upon taking the top bunk of a nearby bed close to a large window. He heard Orion beneath him, muttering under his breath before taking to sleep in a massive snore. Looking around, Six noticed it was some sort of break quarters, likely for use in extended shifts..for whoever worked here anyway, that was when Six noticed the sign noting 'SECURITY' in big capital letters that was mounted on the open door, it was clear that security probably wasn't hired that often.

Looking out towards the window, Six made out the skyline that dotted Lumiose City, the stars could still be seen even despite the massive amount of lighting, this place wasn't going to end up on the list of destroyed civilizations, Six was sure of that. Confident in his and his team of Enclave veterans, he drifted off to sleep, praying that Vulpes wasn't coming back to try and cut him up again. He made a note that both William and Roxie, both of whom had crawled to the top bunk as well, had fallen asleep at the foot of his bed...he also noted that a cazador can, in fact, be adorable before taking to sleep himself.

* * *

Back to Gannon and Ulysses, we see both men still talking; their pokemon had gone to sleep, too tired to listen to the rest of the story. Gannon wasn't one to let the ruse of sleep deter him though, Ulysses and Six had a storied past, one that intrigued him greatly.

"So Six left Ashton and came out on the roof of the Sunstone tower; what happened next?" Ulysses had gotten some fresh water to fill his canteen, eventually drinking most, if not all, of it down.

"Ah, the exit of the Sunstone Tower marked the way for more tunnels, more darkness than one man should bare."

 _The crumbling cars and highways were replaced by the myriad structures of buildings long abandoned, the tunnelers thrived here, feasted here, bred here. The Courier, however, single-handedly managed to eliminate the entire population in the northern passage and changed the chain of survival; for better or worse is up to the Great Redeemer._

 _The Courier eventually came out atop of what was once the Boxwood Hotel, it was here that I had 'claimed' the eyebot for my own purposes. To show him how loss truly feels, his perseverance knew no bounds however; cutting through deathclaws and the marked as though they were paper, it was at the end of the path that we met._

 _"_ Must've been one hell of a reunion huh?"

"Please spare me your quips, I've no need for them. What happened in the silo proved that the Courier had his priorities, including the rescue of that eyebot...whether they were the right choices or not was none of my concern. What was my concern was the outcome of the battle that was sure to play out."

"let me guess...there wasn't a battle?"

 _There wasn't a battle immediately; the Courier had somehow managed to talk me down from hostility, declaring that, even if I had destroyed the NCR's hold on the Long 15 and even his life, he hoped I would've learned something from it all._

 _There was no time to dwell on the newfound peace...those marked by the Divide had entered the silo; it was here that the Courier and I formed a bond, the man I would come as close as to call a friend, he of which was once my enemy...is now a tolerable ally._

 _As for the missiles, they were delayed, the eyebot had sacrificed itself in order to halt the launch, in the process it relayed all information gathered to all other eyebots on its network; including the one in Primm's Mojave Office._

"Damn...I knew you and Six had history, but that's just an epic right there; one for the history books, amirite?"

"No, as I said. I preferred my history to die with me, none really need to know of the last frumentarius this side of the Colorado."

"Huh, well. I'm at least glad to know that Six trusts you, so when do we leave for Lumiose?"

"Hmm...at the first glimpse of sunrise, it should give us enough time to reach the city; just enough time to prepare and make sure the worst doesn't come."

With that said, both men set off to find something comfortable. Gannon decided that his pack should make a decent pillow, whilst Ulysses set his back upon a nearby tree. Both men let sleep take over shortly after.

* * *

Author's Note - How was this one? Decent? Boring? Let me know. Yes this story is going by slowly, yes only three full days have passed since touchdown compared to a month's worth of writing and no I don't plan on pairing anything up; all your ships are sunk. I'm no romanticist, might take a few shots here and there to keep with the crazed pace that's in the anime, but overall that idea is null. Now if you don't mind me, I'm setting up my TV to record the Jets vs Bruins game for tomorrow.

Also, that dream sequence...eh I feel like I didn't make it powerful enough, figure it out and you might know something likes making nightmares occur. Anyway, I feel like this was one of my more poorly written chapters. Might be, might not; don't know for sure. Heading back to getting that hockey game recorded.


	28. Here Comes The Sun

Author's Note - Survival without losing a companion? Well that's what multiple saves are for, sometimes they wandered into a small minefield by mistake...other times they charged in with a pool cue aimed at a sentry bot. As for Nipton, I did do a half-drunk playthrough on my own accorde; ended up attack Nipton with a tire iron and a couple of grenades, I retreated to the same bed every day to heal for around...five game days I'd suppose.

* * *

" _Give me 20 years, and I'll reignite the high technology development sectors. 50 years, and I'll have people in orbit. 100 years, and my colony ships will be heading for the stars, to search for planets unpolluted by the wrath and folly of a bygone generation."_

Robert E. House

* * *

The sun shone itself upon Lumiose, the glistening shining jewel of Kalos. it also rose in the Couriers eyes, immediately blinding him as he fell off the bunk.

*Clunk*

"Ech-Jesus Christ...what time is it?" Six saw everyone was either getting ready for the day or was already geared up, Orion answered his question bluntly.

"It's time for you to get your ass up, you slept in boychik."

"Who are you calling boychik? I'm no less than...20 or 30 years younger than you."

"Exactly, still a boychik in my book. Now get up kid."

Picking himself off of the ground, he noticed Roxie carrying William down off the bed and leaving to go up to the hanger. Six also noticed the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs to the Remnants floor, true to life, here came Clemont, Serena and Ash. Six gave a small wave as he prepared his suit of armor.

"Ah hey, it's you three." *CREAK* "Hang on a second, just gotta get this sleeve on." *CRANK* *CLASP* "There we go, all suited up, now then. Seeing as you guys know more about this place than we do; mind leading the way towards this Sycamore?" Clemont interjected, offering a different idea.

"That can wait till later, right now none of us have had breakfast. We were going to have Korrina, Viola and Alexa tag along, but they're busy getting ready for the conference."

"Breakfast eh? I've a feeling there's a catch."

"Well...yeah, care to explain Ash?"

"Sure! Uhm, basically, you can't bring those with you." Ash was pointing the the mini-armory of lasers, machine guns and explosives placed atop a table, Orion wasn't taking this one standing. Six sighed, he knew something like this was bound to happen.

"Who are you to tell us what we can and can't carry? You didn't say anything before."

"That's because we didn't know you were so well-armed! You're as armed as the Kantonese Military, besides. Lumiose City is as safe as the pouch on a Mama Kangaskhan."

None of the Remnants nor Six knew what Ash was talking about, so Serena offered a much simpler analogy.

"What he meant was that Lumiose City is as safe and secure as any normal city, there's a decent-sized police force of Jenny's on duty at all times and barely any crime occurs here."

Courier Six; ever the mediator, offered a conjuctionary deal.

"Truthfully none of us like walking out in the open without a weapon of some sort. The saying in the Mojave was that 'an armed society is a polite society'. Everyone had a weapon, and we're no different...So how about this. One of us carries a shart-ranged weapon for self-defense while another carries something ranged?"

The children discussed it amongst themselves, eventually coming to agree with the terms of Six.

"Great, now we just need to figure out who carries what...erm."

Looking around, Six took Orion off the list immediately, prompting the short-tempered Enclaver to spout out...some rather harsh language, Six only payed attention to some of it...in the endgame, it was Six and Johnson; Johnson for his grandfatherly kindness and accurate hand, Six because...well Six just likes to smash things with a massive hammer.

Before leaving, the group heard massive footsteps; it was Hammock, flanked by Roxie and WilliamWith the arrangements of engagement made, the group stepped out of the Imperial Tower's younger brother. Six and the Remnants were awestruck, none of them had ever seen a pre-war city in its former glory, but this must've been as close as one could get; it was a short walk to the restaurant Clemont was talking about, Six had to wonder, what was non-radiated food like? He hadn't had any of the stuff for so long.

The interior was garish in the eyes of Six, it looked like something Gannon would appreciate, the chairs seemed too small for the power armors to fit onto, requiring those wearing the suits to leave them once more. This caught the attention of several diners, some looking on in wonder whilst others looked extremely wary. A waitress came by, evidently shocked by the new customers minus the children. she spoke to Clemont; immediately recognizing him.

"Hi Clemont, how's Meyer doing?" Meyer?

"Dad's doing okay, he had to leave for Cyllage City this morning."

"I'm sure he'll be back just in time for the Conference...so is it all of you?"

"That's right, I heard that there was a special on certain menu items today?"

"Mhmm, right this way, we should have a table for...one, two, three...ten people, somewhere."

Looking around, Six did notice quite the group they had, each one of the Remnants had a different reaction to the restaurant and its denizens. Orion, wearing his standard merc armor, was sneering at an equally snideful restauranteer whilst Judah, wearing his standard officers garm, was looking at an appropriately Kalosian (IE: French/Baroque) painting.

Eventually finding a seat, each of the group was handed a menu, Pikachu and Dedenne gleaming off of their respective owners shoulders...as was that...weird..green thing in Bonnie's pouch. Six was starting to sweat bullets, how could an innocent little bun of cinnamon like her have possession of such evil?! It almost killed him for god's sake.

 _Okay Six, calm down..maybe they each have independent minds, I'm sure not all of them can turn into dogs and try to rip your arm off. Be cool man, be cool._

"Hey Courier? Are you okay? You look terrified..I didn't say anything did I?" No Bonnie, Six has no problem with you, he has a problem with the green plant cell in your shoulder bag.

"Huh? Wha-Oh no no, nothings wrong, just deep in thought is all."

"Oh ok, you haven't looked at your menu, neither have they." Bonnie pointing to the other Remnants.

"Well..uhm...we don't know what to order really...why don't you guys choose?"

"Us choose? Well, more than likely Ash would order you the Mount Silver-Platter of Tauros Beef and rice-"

"Beef? Sounds great actually, you said this was a special right?" Six calmly asking to Clemont.

"That's right, anything for a group of over eight people is 50 percent off, so that Mount Silver-Platter might actually work for you, if you have an appetite as big as Ash's."

"You kidding me? I was the number one food-eating champion in Goodsprings three years running..I got the rads to prove it too, much safer than other competitions that I knew of."

"Like what?"

"Well...there was the contest to see who could climb the Novac Dinosaur the fastest, another to try and run through the Ultra-Luxe naked; that one one failed miserably for many obvious reasons. Another dumb one was trying to try and break the glass panes on the top level of the Lucky 38...in fact I think some idiot actually managed it."

"What did he win?"

"A one-way ticket out of Vegas, escorted by the securitrons and literally thrown out of Freeside, still trying to figure out who was smart enough to build a catapult in this day and age..."

Everyone, including the Remnants, was silent; not because it sounded odd, but because it was odd. The image of a man being thrown across a wall by catapult seemed almost comical, that image was replaced immediately by varying trays of food, including two platters stacked with beef and rice almost specifically for Ash and Six...all served by two very familiar red and blue-haired workers, both smiling non-genuine smiles

"Bon appetit!"

"Bon voyage-ack!"

Six had no clue what to make of the situation, he made a nod to the Remnants, confirming his suspicions and theirs as well; those three idiots somehow ended up here, but they weren't doing any damage...yet. Six figured that he would wait until they tried something, then he would scare the hell out of them. Our courier did have one thing on his mind.

How the hell had they gotten here so fast? Six decided to voice his concerns to the kids.

"Did those two look familiar to any of you, like at all?" Looking around, he noticed Ash preparing to answer.

"Nope, not at all, why? Are they familiar? Maybe they were working somewhere else before here."

Good lord everyone here had to be naive...well they were kids after all, maybe they couldn't fool...the police? That's right, a Jenny had waltzed into the restaurant; she had to be informed of the three morons at large right? The same two fools who thought they were disguised walked towards the Jenny; a frown on her face. She had them! Blue hair spoke up.

"Welcome to Restaurant Le Wow, how may we serve you?"

"Hmmm.." Hook, line and sinker. "A reserved table for two, my sister from Coumarine is coming by in several hours and its been a long time since we caught up, wanted to meet up over at her favorite restaurant." You've gotta be kidding. Even the police woman; the person who CATCHES criminals for a living, can't even discern between a disguised criminal with a hair color that only one-in-a-thousand people would actually have!

Six went back to eating his food, no need to cause a commotion right here and now; too much attention and too many people to potentially get injured, he'd have to confront them another time. For now though, food was getting colder by the second, and there was enough for Six and only Six.

* * *

It was close to Nine o'clock now. Gannon and Ulysses had reached the middle of the Badlands; nothing but desert for miles, as it was before...what wasn't the same was the rumbling noises that were respondent under the earth. Gannon voiced his thoughts; his own team of pokemon ready to defend themselves from...whatever it was.

"I don't like this, earthquakes don't just happen on a whim." Ulysses held in a chuckle; his team getting into position.

"No they don't...Boris, you're ethereal correct?"

Boris stood confused, until Gannon's Audino clarified it for him, he now shook his head.

"Good, follow that trail, force the cryptid out from the safety of the earth!"

On the dot, Boris immediately chased after the trail of crumbled earth; soon after came a large snake-like figure, one with a horn no less. Just as the Psyker had said. The creature could've been no less than the length of an Old-World semi-trailer combination, it's body comprised of boulders seemingly held together by nothing It glared at the two humans and their pokemon with its large black eyes, immediately noticeable were the scars upon its body; this creature was a warrior, it's scars amounting to countless stories of battles clearly won.

Before Ulysses could issue another order, the creature lifted itself and plowed back into the earth,.

"That creature...that horn..Boris, force it back out! Follower, when it pops up again, order the plant to attack the middle section."

"Ooookay..I'll do my best, can I ask why real quick?"

'If the laws of this realm are the same as ours, then a plant can conquer a rock."

"Makes sense to me, alright Lilliput, attack that giant worm with...whatever you have." Lilligant immediately turned around and pointed to Gannons pokedex whilst making 'bitch seriously' face. Taking out the dex, Gannon had noticed a button titled 'MOVES'; pressing it and pointing it towards Lilligant, the dex spoke upon contact.

"This pokemon currently knows: Seed Bomb, Mega Drain, Toxic and Solar Beam."

"How the hell does solar beam work? Sound interesting...Okay try that."

Lilligant nodded, whilst Boris was at work chasing the rock snake, Lilligant was busy gathering energy from sun. Gannon was awestruck at the scene currently playing out and was excited to see the outcome. Ulysses was more passive, but was impressed nonetheless; as if on cue, the snake had reemerged, and was in Lilligants crosshairs. Gannon promptly gave the order, allowing her to fire a solid beam of light straight at the creature, causing significant damage...Nevertheless, it was still standing and still willing to fight back. Ulysses stepped forward, eventually approaching the front of it. Standing eye to eye, both the rock and Ulysses stared each other off until Ulysses.

"Beast of The Earth, you have no need to fear me nor do you have reason to fight me. I've come with an offer, would you accompany me on a journey? The world stands on the brink of destruction, you who are the last to follow; in accordance with a prophecy shall you be remembered.

The creature sat for several moments, immediately roaring as it hurled boulders of several sizes, none had hit Ulysses, but they had hit several others; namely Audino and the fighting types. Thankfully they appeared uninjured, though Gannon and his unwounded team still took to care for them.

"That's how it is? I will conquer you beast, I'm offering you a final ultimatum; you stand down and assist, or I fight you myself."

The beast gave a mighty roar, signaling its answer. Ulysses brought out his pole, instantly grabbing onto the horn of the creature, trying to shake off the former Legionnaire, but to no avail. Thus it took a new route of action and prepared to dive back into the ground. Ulysses hold on the horn was slipping, and he felt that he wouldn't live for very long if the monstrosity dove back into the earth. Ulysses had to stop it, and fast.

It was then that he noticed a fresh scar on the backside, Ulysses knew that a lot of pain was to occur from this, but it was for the best reasons that he had to cause another warrior untold pain; lifting his pole, Ulysses aimed at the scar and threw Old Glory, embedding her sharpened eagle into the rock, causing the beast untold pain. Gannon looked on in confusion at the events that had unfolded.

"Never thought I'd say that I saw a former Legion warrior fight a massive pile of boulders...then again I'm making sure a marshmallow puff isn't injured."

"Audi! Audino-aud."

"Man I wish I could understand you, bet you have plenty to say, eh creampuff?"

Audino was about to interject, but was more concerned with the massive bunch of rock sliding in their directions. Thankfully it was stopped as soon as Ulysses attacked the horn; oddly enough it appeared to faint, slamming down onto the hard earth, with that finished Ulysses jumped down from his latest conquest. Gannon figured that they should help the creature, as it was apparent that Ulysses needed its help.

"Think you could've caused...I don't know...LESS DAMAGE?! I'm seeing cracks where there shouldn't be cracks."

"It's a warrior, a fighter. It'll be fine, just needs time and patience to heal."

"Ugh..fine..I'll see if I have any medicine or berries left over...hmm..ah, here we go..erm..'Potion Spray'..wonder what that is, let's give it a try."

Gannon, thankfully reading the directions as to avoid spraying himself in the eyes, aimed that sprayer at snake's freshest wounds first; eventually the beast was back to good health and glared at Ulysses almost immediately. The pokemon stood itself half its length and yelled a mighty roar, promptly slinking back down to Ulysses' height.

"So, you'll travel alongside us now that We've proven ourselves?" The beast let out a simple grunt of approval. It would seem that Ulysses now had all the cards in place to combat the forces that stood against the survival of both Kalos and the Mojave. With that in mind, our group in the desert set their sights east towards Lumiose, along a high-speed collision with everybody's favorite courier.

* * *

Over at Big Mountain: A myriad display of activity was occuring. For the first time in 200 years an 'all clear' signal was given, allowing the scientists of the Think Tank to explore the world beyond Big Mountain, and what a world it was. From the varieties of stones and minerals to the applications of various berries and herbs; none were more surprising, however, than that of the Zygarde Cells. Borous concluding that they were indeed independently thinking cells that could operate alone or bond together, the man..erm, brain I mean, gave a small presentation to a computer screen, himself not shown thankfully for those on the opposite end of the screen. Who is on that other end you wonder? It's Kalos' number one pokemon professor; one Professor Sycamore, aptly listening to the unknown-to-him scientist dissect the qualities that seperate the Zygarde from average pokemon.

"As you can hopefully see from here, the Zygarde have an ability that allows them to adapt their size in accordance with their environment; as such, recent deep microscopic observations show that many more Zygarde may exist than humans or other species of 'pokemon'."

Sycamore was impressed by all that this group had told him. At first he considered them former members of the infamous Team Flare; as they wouldn't show their faces or divulge their location, but after several hours of sharing inormation, he figured that they were simply independents working on their own accord, whilst the Doctor was still on the topic of Zygardes, Sycamore had a thought, perhaps they were related to related to the explosion from several days ago?

"Pardon me Dr..."

"Borous...just Borous."

"Right, tell me, has anything suspicious occured near your facility in the Pomace Mountains?"

"Aside from the dragons seemingly flying out of the sky and greenery randomly popping up. I'd say things are rather suspicio-"

The screen turned to static, the board and diagram being replaced with a single, staticy, seemingly unblinking human eye staring right at Sycamore, causing him to be somewhat alarmed along with some nearby staff. An elderly male voice spoke, trying to calm the poke-expert and his team down.

"Please Professor, seat yourself; as a man of science I suppose we should explain ourselves further, grab yourself a cup of coffee if you will. Now, as you may have figured out, we are an independent party that wishes no more than to solve the impossible; a challenge for us today were things that were unthought of centuries ago."

"So what are you saying Dr..."

"Mobius, you may call me Mobius. I'll be honest, it has been a long, long time since a discussion with another scientist outside the Think Tank."

"How long is a long time, Dr. Mobius?"

"Too long my boy. Now, the reason I interrupted my colleague, one Dr. Borous, is due to several key revisions I wish to instate over our contact waiver."

Sycamore nodded, ah yes, the waiver. Sycamore's lab had unexpectedly received a burst message around a day ago, a message containing massed amounts of data regarding mega-evolution and a memo declaring that a group of scientists wished to make contact with Sycamore to regards to pokemon biology and beyond; interested in this opportunity, Sycamore became suspicious as it had an odd return address. The message had been sent from several different satellites, each satellite covertly delivering information to the professor.

With the help of an installed tracker based in the lab, Sycamore found the message was delivered originally from a Team Flare satellite unit, originally used as a large-scale communications relay; why it was being used to send messages to Sycamore was anyone's guess, but the good pokemon professor figured that it was a group of dissenters initially. After their initial conversation he now believed them to be independent from any other organization, opting to hijack a satellite in lieu of launching their own. Back in the present, Mobius spoke one more.

"Now, we'd outlined that we are currently using a hijacked satellite. It will only be a matter of time before Team Flare discovers this...I would like your permission to operate under one of Kalos' satellites."

Sycamore was somewhat hesitant. On one hand this would improve relations with the so-called Big Mountain. On the other, it could pave the way for scientific espionage should the independents be so inclined.

"I don't know...Your team seems rather suspicious. I want proof to know that you're real, can you send anyone, anyone at all, out to meet me here at the lab?"

"I figured you would say something like that. I sent a message to my courier last night, informing them to deliver some _rather sensitive_ data regarding mega-evolution stones. They should be there by today."

"Really? That's some kind of forward thinking Doctor."

"Why thank you young Sycamore. Now, if you should meet our courier, I've no doubt that he might appear rather terrifying. Not to worry though, he's smarter than he appears to be."

"So how will I know who he is?"

"I've sent another message to him, it entails him to approach the reception desk and to simply ask for you. He might be a tad taller than you though, but you'll discern him from the average rabble by the application mounted on his left wrist."

"That's all huh? Very well then. I'll inform you whenever he comes in. Is there anything else Doctor?"

"Yes. I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to pry into the location of our lab, we have extremely high security measures for a reason...No one should die simply looking for us." Mobius spoke in a somber tone, as though the memories of Lysandre's assault were fast returning to his memory banks

"...I understand Doctor, I won't pry for the sake of those in Kalos."

"Thank you. Big Mountain signing out."

With the blink of a screen, the frequency was shut off...He forgot to give Big Mountain approval to use one of the satellites! Or he thought he did, until a technician for one of the communicades spoke up.

"Sir, it seems that someone piggybacked onto Deoxys Two-Seven. They jumped from some other communications beacon."

"*Sigh*...Let it slide, it's a friendly signal, is it giving a beacon?"

"Negative professor, it's operating via some form of advanced radio wave. The frequency's bouncing too erratically to get a specific location."

So they were masking their location? Whoever Big Mountain is, they talk and give a big game. They can deliver equally though, they discovered things that his best workers couldn't even comprehend.

Certain files did scare him though. Big Mountain warned of an application of the Zygarde Cell that could used as a viable weapon through forced fusion of the cells, it was, perhaps, that Big Mountain had encountered the creature itself...It was then that Sycamore discovered another segment in that same burst message from yesterday.

The segment showed some sort of picture, blurred and slightly discolored. It showed a massive grey figure fighting against a large canid-looking monstrosity, Sycamore wondered if this is what one of Zygarde's combinations consisted of. Waving it off temporarily, Sycamore proceeded back into his lab, prepared to conduct several experiments on his mind...but first there were several children out front, eager for their first pokemon.

* * *

Courier Six had finished eating, now on track to visit Sycamore. The Remnants decided to go back to the Tower alongside Hammock whilst the kids decided to go visit several friends based in the city.

"Guess it's just me and you two eh?" Referring to the Quilladin and Cazador, Six took off towards Sycamore's Lab...which he wished he knew seeing as there wasn't a map..

 _"You can go straight and turn left at the next intersection, there's a kiosk giving away free maps in time for the Lumiose Conference." That voice seemed familiar, it struck Six immediately._

 _"Hey Xerneas, fancy meeting you here, couldn't have helped us at all back in Shalour could'ya? Would've loved that help."_

 _"Not my fault, didn't expect those three morons to try and muck everything up, you dealt with them anyway."_

 _"Not for long anyway, just saw them wearing shitty disguises in that restaurant back there...thankfully they didn't spike the food or anything."_

 _"It pains me, the naivety of the general populace. The world's been in danger no less than 10 times in the past four years and they still don't know...Have I mentioned that time has actually been changed? This isn't an original timeline."_

 _"So what is?"_

 _"Basically it's like this, a battle between two legendaries occurred in Alamos Town, I don't remember much, but that's where the road forks for everything, and it was all because of one Ash Ketchum."_ Six listened while he turned down the road, reaching the kiosk he was told about, being handed a map by a rather nervous salesman. Six, now reading the map, was walking in the direction of Sycamore's Lab.

 _"So the kid changed the timeline, that's good. Right?"_

 _"Well, yes and no. Yes because nothing is dead and nobody is a slave. No because the original timeline was changed, so many discrepancies are occurring, as such there is now more evil in the land than ever before."_

 _"Gotcha, so you could have everything dead or more evil people...Think I prefer more evil people, at least you can solve that problem with a bullet."_

 _"Does everything you solve get solved with a bullet?"_

 _"Nope, I can solve things with explosives or a good old hammer...sometimes I can talk things out, but it hurts the throat just to speak."_

 _"My my, so you can change after all."_

 _"Yeesh, what did I ever do to cross your bad side?"_

 _"Nothing, just testing your patience before you yell at nothing, make you look a little bit on the spinda side, know what I mean?"_

 _"Well you're close...ugh here it is! How could anyone miss this? Huh...another message from Mobius, wants me to meet Sycamore at the front desk. Eh, works for me I suppose."_

 _"Play nice human! Don't forget your lunchbox."_

Ignoring the almighty annoying Xerneas. Six came across the reception area where there three different kids with one pokemon ball thing in their hands...each of them plus the receptionist looked scared out of their wits; Six tried to remedy the situation by taking his helmet off. It worked somewhat. Great, now to meet Sycamore, Six motioned himself towards woman at the front desk, the receptionist still a bit shaky.

"Can I hel-help you sir?"

"Yep, got a message for Sycamore, Big Mountain sent me."

"Oh, Sycamore just got through talking to them not even an hour ago, wow they work fast! In that case you can go through the door on your left, his office is the first door on your right."

"Thanks, appreciate it." Walking in accordance to the receptionists directions, Six found who he assumed to Professor Sycamore, seemingly in the middle of a coffee break/nap, and knocked on the man's door as softly as he could.

Professor Sycamore was taking a small nap, the three kids he gave the starters out to proved to be quite the handful...he was soon awoken by the sound of what seemed to be a SWAT team trying to break down his door, almost causing him to fall out of his chair. The banging clearly wasn't going to stop until he let them come in.

"*YAWN* Come in, the door's unlocked."

What entered was something Sycamore didn't expect, a massive armored knight nearly nine feet high had entered his office. Sycamore was nervous now, also slightly envious of the man's beard/rugged fashion statement.

"Can I help you? Mr..."

"Six, Courier Six. I'm here on behalf of Big Mountain."

So this was the guy? Well it wasn't what Sycamore expected, but beggars can't be choosers he supposed. Sycamore got up, gently shaking Six's hand in a friendly manner.

"Well in that case, welcome to Lumiose City's center for pokemon research. I'm Professor Sycamore, head of the facility. I had actually gotten out of a call with Big Mountain regarding your arrival."

"Really now? Guess they do work quick, learn anything new?"

"More than anything we've actually ever encountered really. This coalition between our two facilities has jumped our research ahead..at least half a decade I'd suppose. Now then, we need to offload that data they sent...what exactly is it stored in?"

"Might be this thing right here Doc." Six leaned his left arm out, revealing the Pip-boy and the obtrusive application that was literally welded on.

"Seems a tad...crude I'd say, but nevertheless, let's offload the data onto the archive."

"This isn't going to hurt is it?"

"Not at all, now let's see...ah, here's a connection."

Connecting the LIMA to the mainframe of the archives section, Sycamore was in thought of the applications of the research gained from Big Mountain, the data transfer was completed in record time.

"Alright then, would you be willing to thank them for assisting the Kalos Region?"

"Actually I had some other business I needed to do for the complex, sort of a mapping expedition you could say. I'll be sticking around a few days."

"Ah, well in that case I'll thank them personally, if you ever need any assistance, come by my office." Six checked a nearby clock. It was already close to one.

With Six leaving the office wing of the lab, he came face to face with a rather familiar figure...two actually, along with five strange creatures and a collection of giant rocks outside.

"Gannon? Ulysses? Where the hell have you guys been?" Gannon was the first to speak, his smirk never-ending.

"Six, been too long. You still owe me that bottle of vodka from two years ago."

"Jeesh, one to hold a grudge huh? How's it going Ulysses?" Ulysses perked up, giving a nod to the courier, clearly not in a mood to talk.

"So...Six, Ulysses. I feel like something bad should happen whenever three of the biggest shots in the Mojave come together." Six and Ulysses agreed, Six then interjected, remembering he had somewhere to be.

"Gah Christ. I've actually gotta protect a kid from getting killed by...anything really, you guys finish what you need to do here and I'll meet you by that big-ass white tower in the center of town, you can't miss it. All good?" Both men agreed, with that said. Six took off to the Prism tower, he figured the kids might've gone there to train or do whatever it is that kids do whenever they aren't in the Mojave. Gannon only had one thing to say.

"When did Six start playing babysitter?...Ulysses?" The frumentarius merely shrugged, confused by Six's actions and wording.

* * *

Somewhere in good ol' Lysandre Labs, we see the one redhead that can never compare to Jesse or Misty; evil, angry Lysandre was preparing himself for the conference, the Zygarde Project was going according to plan...however, the stolen equipment from Big Mountain proved less than fruitful. The containers holding the Saturnite had self-destructed due to a failsafe embedded in a retina scanner, bringing an abrupt end to his plans of impenetrable armor for his men and pokemon. It also appeared that someone had corrupted a storage mainframe, specifically one containing the processes of manufacturing and maintaining the atomic weapons he was ecstatic to unleash, an unfortunate demise. Thankfully he had planned ahead to copy a part of the plans to a backup server, the sad news came with the fact that the part being saved was specifically for the manufacturing of the missile component...

No matter! A simple missile is still a dangerous force to be reckoned with, and mass production of the missiles can easily be achieved far more quickly now that the complexity of the atomic component was out of the picture. Lysandre's spies had reported a firefight between that accursed guardian and Team Rocket...there was more however, there were reports that the Guardian wasn't alone, that he had assistance and possible air support...what worried Lysandre most was a report that the Guardian was in Lumiose, not only that but that he also had come into contact with the same children who interrupted his plans the first time...thankfully, aside from the Guardian, none of them knew what he looked like, he could walk into the conference and none would bat an eye.

More than likely the Guardian wouldn't be able to enter the Conference Arena, it also meant that Lysandre could execute his plans with more...hands-on control. Now he just needed to figure out how to push those opposing his plans out of the picture...

* * *

Author's Note - Oy Vey, this was a tough one, Act II is nearing a close, with it comes Act III in a few more chapters. Might send Six off to do some menial tasks, maybe a settlement to help out here and there, maybe learn how to use his pokemon to help him out instead of taking up space in the Vertibird...And yes, Ulysses did leave an Onix outside. I like to imagine Ulysses just riding atop an Onix as though it were a horse, saddle and all...I need to get to drawing this. That shit sounds awesome! This chapter's just shy of 6,000 words...so there might be mistakes and it might feel a bit rushed.

On a side note - My Winnipeg Jets lost to Boston. Lost 1 to 4, but who cares? At least one Bostonian was injured in the audience in the end, that's all that matters.


	29. Don't Fear The Reaper

Author's Note - Honestly I was poking fun at Preston "Gravy Train" Garvey. The guy's the biggest joke in Fallout since that one Monty Python encounter in Fallout 2, ah good times with that old game. It was hard being convincing with Big Mountain giving an all clear...but they're still human, they gotta get tired of being isolated eventually...Right?

Ah, another reviewer, well Muggy isn't really important to the story and the toaster got thrown into a thing of water; canonically anyway. Joshua Graham, he won't be involved, mentioned perhaps, but none others aside from those on the Kalos side of the spectrum from the Mojave are going to be included.

* * *

 _"There never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword."_

Ulysses S. Grant

* * *

For Ash and the group, it was a beautiful day. Between the Fletchlings bouncing around in the sky above to the sounds of the roaring fountains in just one of Lumiose City's many parks, everything seemed perfect.

Well...almost perfect; for one blonde-haired pokemon performer, she was aware that the journey she and the rest of her friends went on was about to come to a close. She needed to tell the boy she loved how she really felt! She walked up to the one in question, sitting on a bench near a circular fountain. her voice barely above a whisper.

"Ash, I..I want to tell you something." Ash raised his head, confused at her obvious blush.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Well...I just wanted to say th-"

*SNAP*

A lightpost almost fell on the two children, falling on the bench in the process. Looking up, the two found the culprit; an Onix with a figure riding atop of it, it was Ulysses of all people. The Guardian of The Divide jumped off his rock snake with Gannon just barely catching up, clearly out of breath. Serena had to wonder if the two men knew each other, she hadn't seen either man since several days, she decided to greet them despite their ruining of her confession.

"Hi there! What are you doing back in Lumiose City Arcade?"

"*Huff* Just *Wheeze* finished my first *Cough* assignment...also met this old man in Coumarine City, baked a pie with him."

"A pie...?" Ulysses retorted to Serena immediately afterwards.

"Yes, truly one of the worst things the Old-World ever lo-"

"Old-World this, Old-World that. Can you stop talking about the Pre-War days? It's honestly starting to sound depressing...and for you that's saying something."

"What are you implying Follower?"

"You keep watch over a ruined, earthquake shattered landscape that was accidentally destroyed by the courier...forgot to mention how you wanted him dead but ended up teaching him how to make a snake torniquet instead, you're acting like a teenager who never got out of his emo phase."

"Ha! You see? This is why the Followers can't have nice things. Your lot is too foolhardy for its own good, ever think about going back to the Boneyard where you belong?"

"How did your dam crossing go nine years ago? Oh that's right..."

Ash and Serena were confused by the arrangement taking place before them. Pikachu decided to introduce himself to both teams of pokemon, first moving towards Gannon's group. Meanwhile Gannon had noticed that the two wastelanders butted in on something, judging by the close proximity of the two, he could guess only one thing.

Young Love.

"Oh sorry, what's up? Hope we didn't interrupt something." Gannon smiled his best shit-eating grin...you know...that one. "Perhaps a...proposal of sorts?" Serena quickly veered her gaze away from Ash, her blush equating to that of a beet.

"I do-don't know what you're talking about!" Ulysses picked several berries off a nearby tree, giving them to his team and saving one for himself. He, for one, didn't believe her.

"Right...just as there's dust drifting in the Mojave. So too is there love ever blossoming in the air." What Ulysses just said had shocked Gannon. Forcing him to give a blank stare at the wasteland divider whilst taking a step back in horror.

"Can you never make another analogy like that ever again? I think I preferred your talk about the Old-World." Ulysses gave an honest chuckle...yep, you heard me, an honest to god chuckle. Ash paused for a moment, hearing Clemont's voice, signaling that the time for lunch was nigh.

"You guys wanna come along? I'm pretty sure that berry didn't fill you up any Mr. Ulysses."

Both Arcade and Ulysses shrugged, nodding shortly after, their pokemon following along to a picnic court. Elsewhere, some sort of trouble was brewing, not the kind most of you would expect however.

* * *

\- Somewhere in Northern Lumiose

* * *

We see what appears to be the wreckage of a motorcycle that was stuck in a fruit stand; of which the bike had initially collided with a certain power-armored courier. Six was face to face with a very upset Officer Jenny, who was in the process of both berating the courier and writing a citation. She looked disheveled and stressed beyond reproach

"Why didn't you look both ways, huh? You can afford that massive suit but you can't afford a citation? Well you're lucky you aren't paying for the bike or going to jail for damaging government property!"

"Lady, in case you haven-wait, didn't I see you in that restaurant earlier?"

"Huh? Oh you must mean my second cousin twice remodeled..."

"Don't you mean removed?"

"Does it matter? You're getting a ticket buddy, and that's all there is to it." She ripped off the piece of paper with the amount on it. "Hand it in by next week or we'll have to get you ourselves. Such a shame...I had a date too..." Hearing this, Six mumbled to himself.

"poor bastard, maybe this is karma helping him out."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Shit! She heard him. This cop honestly made Six nervous, a woman scorned was akin to a deathclaw...that's how the saying went, right?

"Nothing Officer, now uhm...I'm headed off, have a great day..heh"

The Jenny just glared at him, sweat forming underneath his helmet. Thank god he left the thing on; otherwise she might strangle him just with her gaze alone.

"That's what I thought, now get out of here before I find another reason to snap at you." With that said, Six made his leave.

Our courier had the unfortunate opportunity to have stood in the middle of a crossroads whilst distracted by his map earlier. Looking back, it was probably a mistake not to simply ask for directions, the ruined motorcycle; its sidecar completely crumpled, was dangling from the top of a lightpost. The motorcycle itself...well, there wasn't one, instead a pile of metal stuck in some poor man's fruit stand with a wheel comically hanging off of the side. It's a miracle Jenny herself wasn't killed, only a scratch and a couple of bruises by some miraculous circumstance, instead only being thrust into another stand of fruits and berries.

As Six walked down the sidewalk, he came across the Lumiose Press, the courier figured he could get past with no problem; it's not like SHE'S actually there right now.

"Hey! Glad you remembered our deal regarding the interview."

Damnit. Six turned around, seeing the beaming smile of the lovable reporter and her companion lizard. Six replied in a deadpanned tone, obviously not entertained with the prospect of an interview.

"Oh hey...yeah I was just going to get some food and come back here."

"That's fine, we have our own cafeteria inside!"

"Wonderful...right you two?"

William and Roxie had different opinions regarding the reporter. William thought she was nice; nosey but nice. Roxie thought she just seemed a tad off to the strange side, but it wasn't their choice to judge...

"Great! It won't take long at all, now if you could just remove your helmet when you come inside." As Six entered the building, all eyes, around three employees overall, were on the figure nearly nine feet in height. Some could be heard murmuring about either Six's armor or his height in general. After a while, Alexa and Six eventually reached a corridor, on one side sat the interview room, Alexa spoke immediately, excitement brimming in her voice

"Great, now before we go inside, would you like anything to drink?"

"I really don't want to be here..."

"And I wanna be a princess of the Azoth Kingdom. Can't have everything we want now can we?"

"Princess of the where?"

"Nevermind." Opening the door revealed a simple desk and two chairs, Alexa looked back to Six then at the chair. "Hey uhm...big guy, can you actually leave that armor?"

"Of course, remember Shalour Ci...Wait a minute, what's stopping me from trampling over you and this place just so I can go along with my day? Who do yo-"

"You remember the officer whose bike hit you? She's a friend of mine. Don't want to get on her bad side, do you?" Dammit...of course they knew each other. Alexa continued, a smirk on her face. "I know she isn't your biggest fan." Her voice became sing-songish as she went on. " _But guess who iiisss?"_

"I really don...ugh, why am I bothering anymore? Fine, give me a moment." As Six prepared to exit his suit, he could hear William and Roxie bouncing around with that damned electric lizard, the one thing that forced his being here. "*CREAK* *SHIRK* Dammit! *CLANG* Ugh...there we go, now can we get this over with? Stupid rusting metal..."

"Uhm..oh oh sure, now then..." Turning on her camera/microphone headset, Alexa set her sights towards the jumpsuit clad courier sitting in one of the chairs, his arms crossed in a bored fashion. Alexa pulled out a notepad, prepared to read off her first question.

"Let's see here...no..no...not until after the dinner..."

"What was that last one?"

"Nothing! Now...ah, here we go. So tell me Mr..." Alexa made a motion with her hand.

"Courier..just the Courier."

"No surname or anyth-"

"Just...the...Courier."

"Alright then, so Mr...Courier, several days ago you stopped into Geosenge Town. Can you explain what you were doing there?"

"I was on an expedition lady...mapping the area out."

"Was this for a scientific pur-"

"Next question or let me leave."

"Rude much? Okay, so what caused you to pull a gun out on the criminal robbing the mega-stone store?"

"Robbery is a crime, most criminals get shot either moments after the crime or during the crime."

"That's kind of brutal isn't it?"

"It's also brutal how you're judging a place when you haven't been to it. Rude much?" Six grinned, he had this one in the bag.

"Well...uhmm. Okay, would you to tell me about your personal life?"

"I shoot things for a living..I also blow stuff up, I'm a simple man. What can I say?" Alexa was losing her cool, she knew she couldn't play the Courier's game, if she knew more about him then she could get an even playing field. But this guy? He was an oddity. She sighed in defeat, laying her notebook on the table and turning the headset off.

"You know what? I give up...I thought you were my break, but I guess not. You're free to leave, thanks for your time." Alexa hoped her plan would work, the mock defeat idea always worked before. Maybe it might wo-

*SHIIRRRR*

*CLANG*

*SHING*

Alexa was awestruck, he was actually leaving!

"What are you doing?"

"Lady, you said I could leave. I'm leaving. Which way do I go to get to the Prism Tower?"

Alexa sighed, eventually giving the man directions while also staring in disbelief at the actions he had just committed. Ah well, she'd get another chance to interview him.

"Well Helioptile...guess we should go check on Viola huh?"

"Hel!"

* * *

-Back at the park near the tower; Ulysses and Gannon were watching a battle begin between Clemont and Ash, intrigued by their differing ways of battle. Gannon leaned in to Ulysses, whispering.

"Y'know, how much you wanna bet that we could fight them even without experience?"

"Are you saying we should challenge the kids? They're just that, children."

"One runs his own championship and another's been across the world, five caps says we get ourselves beaten on the first try."

"I...ugh, very well Follower...Those five caps are mine by the way." Ulysses let a wry smirk appear on his face, they had to start somewhere, and who better to help their non-human aquaintances than two other people they've just met?

As Ash and Clemont were in the middle of a battle with each others respective Pikachu and Bunnelby, they noticed the Follower and Legionnaire approach the court. Clemont spoke first, his voice mired with excitement from the battle.

"Hey there, come to watch the fight?" Ulysses shook his head, Gannon speaking for them.

"Actually we're just bored, we thought that since we can't use our normal means of fighting, we'd work on our...teammates skills instead." Gannon pointing towards the six combined pokemon on their teams, of which they were offset to the distance...Wait, six? The Onix was missing, probably went underground.

"Are you suggesting a double battle? I'm warning you, Ash and I aren't your average trainer's fare." Ash nodded vigorously

"That's good and all, but you're talking to two equally intelligent minds here, we can conjur up something that comes close to a tactic to fight you, isn't that right?" Gannon crossed his arms, trying his best to look confident. It didn't work at all. "Okay so we don't know jack about this place. For all I know Ulysses might've planned to throw Lilligant right at you." Ulysses was shocked, but not for the reason you would think.

"That...actually was my plan." Guess Ulysses had to think of something else.

"See? So why not give us a practice game, winner gets bragging rights."

Clemont and Ash thought for a second, whispering to each other. Clemont spoke up first.

"Alright then, it's settled. We're your first true pokemon battle. Bonnie, I want you to referee." The little girl in question just giggled, hopping over to the median of the outside court. She spoke up as loud as she could.

"This will be a battle between Gannon and Ulysses versus Ash and Clemont, a double battle with one pokemon each...Begin!"

Ulysses went first, choosing his pokemon.

"Rock snake! Come forth." Ash and Clemont was curious when Ulysses said rock snake..did he mea-

*CRASH*

From the ground arose an Onix, that's where it was, all too familiar to Ash, as his first gym battle was against an Onix. The boy from Kanto felt the memories rush back to him.

"Alright! An Onix! We've got this. Right Pikachu?" The little yellow mouse appeared on court, equally excited if not more.

"PIKA!"

Gannon and Clemont went next. Clemont picked Chespin for his choice, Gannon had a little more trouble however.

"Lilligant!" What was that? "Lil-lilligant!" Looking down, Gannon saw a walking flower with its arm-leaves outstretched. Gannon could only guess as to why.

"You want to fight?" The Lilligant nodded, it'd been too long since she had a battle. Her solar beam was less than par on her course, perhaps now was the time to fix that little problem. "Alrighty, head on up." Lilligant complied, taking her place on the court and claiming a battle stance. Gannon wondered to himself silently.

 _Perhaps she's done this before? Explains her willingness to fight over flight._

"Alright then, so who takes the first move?" That was a good question Gannon. Turning over to Bonnie, we see her flip a poke-coin, immediately getting a result.

"Alright...tails! That means Gannon and Ulysses step up first. Begin!"

Ulysses started off with a bang, coming next was Gannon, both men giving a command shortly after the other.

"Toss a boulder at the green one."

"Let's try...a toxic attack. The mouse is our priority."

Both pokemon immediately set to work, with Onix barely missing the Chespin by mere inches whilst Lilligant managed to lead Pikachu in her sights, before she could fire she heard the blonde on the opposite end yell an order.

"Chespin, fire pin missile at Lilligant!" Chespin did as ordered, firing a small volley. No doubt it was going to hit its target.

"Fire your toxic attack at that volley." Lilligant hesitantly did as commanded, firing a stream of purple sludge at the pin missiles. It worked, as they were no longer coming at her. Clemont was impressed.

"I must admit, never seen anyone think like Ash. Bunnelby, use dig!" As the rabbit dug through the ground, Ulysses gave an order.

"Use your tail to cause a fissure." Gannon immediately interjected.

"Can it do that? Does it even know how?"

"One way to find ou-"

*CRACK*

The Onix managed to cause a crack in the ground to appear, revealing the surprised large-eared rabbit. Gannon felt it was his time time to sh-

"Pikachu, iron tail on Lilligant!" The mouse did as ordered, tis tail shimmering an intense white.

"Wha-? Dodge it now!" Gannon was too late, his Lilligant knocked away by the steel-type move that Ash's Pikachu was famous for. Thought Lilligant was down, she wasn't out, in fact she was more determined than ever to put the trap in mousetrap.

"Atta girl, now toss a...seed bomb his way. Got anything on your end Ulysses?"

"Nope, now dig through the ground, circle the rabbit."

The Onix complied, digging through the earth too fast for the rabbit to keep up.

"Now move in for the kill." Ulysses and Gannon seemed too calm, far from the intenseness and confident natures most trainers had...probably because they didn't classify as trainers.

The Onix brought its wrath upon Bunnelby, nearnly knocking him out. Clemont stood shocked.

"No one's ever hit Bunnelby that hard before! Where did you say you got your Onix?"

"The beast follows me as a sign of my strength, it trusts me as I trust it."

"So you never caught it?"

"I don't believe in _catching_ creatures with similar intelligence, especially if its forced."

"What about if they want to be caught?" That was Ash, his Pikachu catching its breath.

"Then I'll allow it. I've seen enough servitude east of the Colorado to know when one is happy with their capture."

"So would you say your pokemon are happy?"

"They're happy because they aren't contained in those...things. I think our battle's over."

"What? But it's not finished."

"It's finished when I say it is child. I secede." Gannon was next, dusting off the dirt coated on the Onix and Lilligant respectively.

"I've gotta admit, he's right, we were just testing some of our skills. If it came down to it, we could fight off anything that came our way. I've got to agree with Ulysses, it doesn't seem the least bit ethical to force certain animals into captivity." Ulysses nodded, confirming his reaction to Gannon. Clemont put Bunnelby in his ball, earning a glare from both the former Legionnaire and Wasteland Follower.

Serena noticed this and spoke up immediately.

"How about we sit and wait for your friend? The Courier...he might be able to calm down the tension between you guys." Gannon brightened a little, at least content that someone's trying to avoid a potential conflict.

"Good idea, Six is probably on his way back as we speak."

* * *

Sure enough, the courier was indeed on his way back to the central tower. It was nearly evening and he had gotten nothing done, maybe Xerneas wouldn't not-

 _I thought I told you to stay close to the Aura Guardian?_ Hi Xerneas.

"Jeesh, give me a break. I'm tired from all the running around town. Why are you bothering me?"

 _I give you one simple order and you choose to do the exact opposite...I'll have to enact a punishment..._

"A punishment? what am I, twelve?"

 _You may as well be a child just by the way you act...*Sigh* your punishment is now in order, one Espurr companion has been sent to your location close by. I never liked them...always staring and manipulating, they're worse than the Persians in Alola._

"Wait, what's an Espurr? What's a Persian? The hell's an Alo-"

"Purrr..." The fuck was that? "Espurr.." Looking down towards a darkened alleyway, Six saw a tiny bipedal cat...thing, lavender in colour and armed with unblinking eyes that have clearly seen the horrors of VietKalos. Six waved as kindly as he could at the cat, this thing freaked him out as well as William and Roxie.

"Hey there...little fella, are you a boy or...yep, you're a gi-"

*CLANG*

A trashcan was thrown at the courier, who promptly dodged it, only to get hit by the lid.

 _I forgot to mention, she's a guardian of an abandoned mansion some distance away, she agreed to help on the terms that she can make your life as miserable as possible...she doesn't like humans  
_

"Wonderful...anything else?"

 _Nope, no other surprises, have fun human. I'm sure you two will get along swimmingly.  
_ Xerneas put on its happiest sounding voice.

"I really don't like you right now." Huh, no response. Six looked down to the cat, nowhere to be seen.

*Scratch scratch* What was that sound? *Scratch scratch* There it was again. Six came face to face with a tiny paw on his visor, obviously from the telepathic cat pokemon. Six picked it up, her body fitting just right into Six's massive metal glove, she stared...Jesus Christ did she stare.

"Oooookay...stop staring, bad cat, bad ca-Holy shit!" Six ducked, an unknown object nearly spiraled into him at full speed.

*CLANG*

It was an A/C Unit that was thrust into a fence, breaking the wiring instantly. Six looked at the creature with a look of shock, setting her down and talking as calmly as possible.

"Alright, you don't like me, I understand that. Work with me here and perhaps you can go back to your creepy haunted mansion somewhere in Kalos..deal?" The Espurr thought for a moment, simply nodding and lifting herself onto Six's shoulder, immediately giving him a chill down his back.

"Now...let's just get back to the tower. Five bucks says Ulysses and Gannon are waiting on us."

As the courier set off to the Prism Tower, he was being followed by three very distinct figures moving about in the shadows. Darkness was coming, the perfect time for the shadows to take shape.

* * *

Author's Note - Yes this chapter is weak. Yes I know I added a complementary battle scene. Yes Ulysses would've wiped the floor with those two, but I'm tired and just got out of the hospital three days ago. It's a literal pain in the ass trying to think of ideas for a chapter while your hearts being worked on.

Reason for Espurr? I love it, favorite pokemon after Magikarp and Audino. Classifying it as the 'tsundere' of Six's group.

Now if you excuse me, I have to undergo torture in the forms of low-sodium foods and low calorie snacks. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.


	30. Against The Wind

Author's Note

Shadow of Life: Ah yes. Sun and Moon. I actually got it back on the 21st, already got my starter, Popplio, evolved to Brionne. Not giving a care if it is a male, he's still fab. Team Skull's hilarious but I know who you're **_really_ ** talking about, shocking is it not?

As for Espurr, hate people as you may, but you never disrespect the orders of a legendary. Remember Damos? Or as I like to call him, Judas of the Pokemon World. Guy disobeyed and betrayed Arceus, nearly prompting the end of a city as a result

Now the question on the minds of several people. Will Six go to Alola? We'll find out in a few chapters. Also, we've hit just over 10,000 views! This story is slowly, but surely, becoming the China of Fanfiction.

* * *

 _"We cannot be both the world's leading champion of peace and the world's leading supplier of the weapons of war."_

Jimmy Carter

* * *

Courier Six might've well had the strangest day in his life; from an annoying reporter trying to seduce him to a psyker cat that knows how to walk being "Gifted" to him by a telepathic deer god. Wandering down the road headed towards the Prism Tower, aware that he was being trailed not only by the three pokemon at his side, but by at least two sets of footsteps as well. The Espurr let out a tiny mewl, which would be adorable if this thing didn't hate him. Six understood the creature somehow, giving a hushed whisper.

"Yep, about two or more sets following along." Six turned around, sledge in tow; surprising the three shadows, now revealed to be children. "Wha?...Jesus christ, it's gotta be more kids." Six lowered his guard and his sledgehammer respectively. "Does the universe think of me as some kind of glorified babysitter?" One of the children, a tanned girl with pigtails and a hot pink super tight shirt, spoke up rather timidly.

"Uhm...s-s-sir? You wouldn't have directions to the P-Prism Tower would you?" This young girl was clearly nervous of the courier. Seeing this, Six holstered his hammer and took off his helmet. He took notice of the three children, two boys and a girl. One was an orange-haired kid with some sort of camera, snapping a quick picture at Roxie; annoying the cazador to the point of her actually _hissing_. The other boy in question had his black hair up in three spikes. It caused Six to question the sanity of it all.

 _Yeesh, does every fifth person in this world have professional stylists? Who am I kidding, one of those morons from yesterday had hair that literally defied gravity, not to mention that talking cat...hmmm._

"Mister?" This was the orange-haired boy. Six responded in kind.

"Huh wha? Oh, sorry about that. So why are you following me for?" The black-haired boy spoke next.

"Well...we're actually kind of lost, then we saw you and that Espurr. We thought you were kidnapping it." Six took off a glove then pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling and exhaling.

 _Crap, that's right, need to explain how I have this thing following me. I know they wouldn't take 'I got it as punishment from the deer god for disobeying direct orders' as an answer. Gotta think bud, c'mon...gotcha!_

"The Espurr? Thing just started following me around." _Good job Six, maybe that'll suffice their appetites!_ "The poor thing followed me all the way to the other end of town, speaking of which, I need to get ba-" The tanned girl interrupted.

"Hold it right there!" Crap, they must've seen through his guise, well Six wasn't the best of liars. "Can you point us to the Prism Tower?"

"Why would you need to go there?"

"We reserved a hotel room close by, plus we heard some of our friends were in town." Friends? Oh god they couldn't possibly mean...no, no it's a big world. Maybe they meant some other friends, that had to have been it. Babysitting for seven kids in total would kill the poor guy.

Six sighed, motioning for them to follow. Going through the streets of Lumiose, they eventually came upon the central plaza shortly afterwards...and happened right into an argument between an old man and Ash...an old man? Oh Christ.

"Dammit Orion. I knew you were going to pull something like this sooner or later." Six ran up to the park to stop Orion from possibly killing anyone.

* * *

In one of the Prism Tower parks, we see Ash and Orion arguing about something. What is it you ask? One way to find out. Orion speaks first, his voice cracked with age but strong with self-confidence.

"Kid, I told you that if everything was done my way, there would be no problem stopping us from destroying whatever the hell was threatening this place and getting back home same day."

"Well your way is just awful. It's too violent and people could get hurt!" Orion walked closer to Ash, trying to intimidate the poor kid.

"They should stay out of the damned crossfire then." Clemont chimed in next, obviously concerned about the outcome to be, his glasses sliding off his nose, which he promptly pushed back up.

"The military could be alerted...well actually they would be. I wou-"

'Military? WE are the fucking military! The Enclave is the goddamned U.S. Army. " Ash was next, his cause unwavering.

"So why are you called the Enclave? You make yourselves sound more like a terror gro-*Gah*"

*CRUNK*

Orion had lifted Ash off the ground and slammed him against a nearby tree, prompting the others to stand awash in shock as the man spoke.

"Never question the Enclave! You're just like the wasteland vermin we used as target practice back towards Navarro, only your kind is somehow even more annoying." One certain courier had had enough, as the children had clearly seen enough of Orion for one day. Besides, the Enclaver was known to kill more than wound...

"That's enough! Orion, get your ass back in the tower before I kick it in there." Orion dropped Ash, clearly out of breath, and looked Six right in the eye.

"What the hell are you gonna do about it? You're not my superior and the Dam was a one-time deal."

"But you came along for Gannon, pretty sure he doesn't want any kids killed by one of the closest things he can call his family."

"Courier, don't bring Gannon up. He's Enclave, you aren't. Get it through your thick skull."

"I'd love to, but a bullet took its spot already. Now drop him before I make you Moreno..." As Six unsheathed his hammer, Gannon and Ulysses were some distance away, Gannon took notice of Orion, the least friendly of his father's compatriots. Ulysses took notice as well, slightly alarmed at the unchained emotional nature of Orion.

"Man's too aggressive, too unpredictable. I don't like unpredictable, would be best to do your part to defuse the situation." Gannon had to agree, Orion was always one who never minced words, but anger towards the slightest questioning of Enclave morals? That needed to stop, Gannon wandered up to Orion, trying his damnedest to stem his frustration. Orion looked to his left, dropping Ash, who was attempting to catch his breath. Orion had little, if any, emotion on his face aside from anger.

"Orion, what are you trying to do, scare the poor kids? Hey Six." The Courier just nodded, the kids behind him heading towards Ash's direction, as were the rest of his team, kid had some loyal friends, that was for sure. It was Six's time to talk.

"Heya, now Orion...what the actual hell are you doing? I thought you were in the tower taking a break." Orion scoffed at the remark.

"I came out here to blow off some steam because the rest of the Remnants figured that we probably aren't going back home anytime soon. I say we find a way, even if it means killing every son of a bitch out here."

"Are you kidding me? We aren't here to cause a mass genocide, this isn't California dammit!" Gannon came in shortly after.

"He's right, Dad wouldn't ha-"

"Your father? To hell with him! He's the reason we're out here in the first place." Gannon stod wide-eyed.

"What are you implying?"

"If we hadn't left after Posiedon sunk to the bottom, we could've taken over another base. Be it the boneyard or even Shady Sands, those NCR scrubs didn't even have the training or the weaponry. We wouldn't even be in this mess if we fought back instead of retreating, we'd be titled 'Heroes of The Wasteland'."

"The NCR would've destroyed us before we even reached New Reno. Orion, the Enclave doesn't exist anymore, I think we just need to let go at this point..." Six agreed, giving a nod of approval.

With a huff, Orion left the two men, heading back into the tower. Six went to check on Ash, the boy being surprised by the attention he had gotten.

"Kid, what the hell did you do to piss him off? You're lucky he didn't snap your neck." Ash went into a short state of realization, being that close to death was something he didn't particularly enjoy. As even Team Rocket was more keen on keeping people and pokemon as alive as possible.

"Well...is the Enclave really as bad as he made it sound?"

"It depends honestly, as a whole it was worse than the Brotherhood of Steel." _Hope those armor-plated bastards got devoured by the wasteland. What was so special about this 'Arthur Maxson' that they just had to pack up and leave? "_ Indivdually, they're decent people. Orion's really the only one people have to worry about. he didn't get you too bad did he?" Serena, looking Ash over, chimed in to the courier.

"Just a couple of marks on his neck, I'm glad it wasn't anything worse." _Me too kiddo, me too._ Serena turned over to the three kids who had originally followed Six to the Prism Tower. "Tierno, Shauna, Trevor? What are you guys doing here? Not that I'm complaining or anything." The one known as Tierno answered happily.

"We came for the Conference of course, your friend here helped us out. Thanks by the way." Motioning towards Six.

"Yeah, no problem..." Gannon noticed the cat sitting upon Six's shoulder.

"Jesus Christ...that thing looks like it set up camp in Mariposa and lived to tell about it, what is it?"

"It's called an Espurr...it was given to me by a very special friend whom I hope to pay back in kind...eventually...It shows affection by throwing things at y-gah what?!" Six was hit by a small cluster of pebbles, obviously thrown by the Espurr, who only made eye contact as a response. Gannon stifled a laugh.

"Heh...I think it honestly dislikes you more than anything. That is interesting though, how is it doing that?" Ash, his confidence now re-boosted,walked up to the two men.

"Doing what? You mean Telekinesis?" Gannon froze up for a second, not believing his ears.

"You mean to tell me that this cat can move things with its mind?"

"That's right, telepathic pokemon are very unique." Clemont added to this as well.

"Indeed, there's even a pokemon with an IQ of over 5,000, quite th-" Gannon quickly interrupted.

"It's over 5,000? That's impossible! The Smartest humans back home have the equivalent of about 160 to 300, the latter being very rare." Six decided that the original situation had derailed and opted to put it back on track.

"Alright everyone, look Ash, when is this Conference thingy?"

"Well...it should be in two more days."

"Well that settles it, everyone's here, we're all geared up and ready for anything that...should those three really be listening?" Six pointed to the three kids he had helped earlier, confusion written on their faces. Ash understood and immediately spoke.

"That's right! You guys know who Team Flare is, right?" The three nodded. "It's possible they're going to try something really nasty. The big guy in armor and his friends are willing to help us." The one known as Trevor was curious.

"Why would they want to help you? His armor makes him look more like a villain than Team Flare or Rocket." Six groaned at the comparison.

"Jeesh kid, way to hit me with my pants down. Why not insult my parents while you're at it." Gannon smirked, prepared to speak next.

"Your mother is so ugly, sh-"

"Stop it right there, remember who saved your ass from a lifetime of boredom? You still owe me a Nuka Victory by the way."

"I'd get one if I could find one."

"Didn't Tabitha have a ton of them at Black Mountain?"

"You burned her entire complex down because of her talk about making Nevada great again."

"Because Nevada is nothing but a giant wasteland, you can't make grass out of irradiated sand. We're getting off topic..what time is it?" Clemont checked his watch.

"It's about 7:30 right now, we can eat at my place. Dad's fixing some dinner for our group, but I don't think he'd mind if you guys came along." Gannon and Six looked towards Ulysses, shaking his head no. Both wastelanders agreed as well. Six speaking for the three.

"We'll be fine right here, pretty sure the Remnants brought some rations with them, if they don't..well the tower had a kitchen from what I saw." Serena offered an idea.

"How about we meet up here tomorrow? I'm willing to fix some poffins if you want some in the morning."

"What's a poffin? Sounds like some kind of weird bird." Serena just giggled.

"It's a type of treat, you'd love it!" Six simply shrugged.

With all being said, all groups went their seperate ways. With Six, Ulysses and Gannon heading towards the tower and Ash's group, including the kids who Six had assisted, going towards Clemont's house. Everything seemed to be going somewhat smoothly. Six could only guess that tomorrow would be a rather uneventful day.

* * *

Somewhere south of Lumiose, another ripple in the spectrum opened up. A figure well over 12 feet in height had manifested itself in the midst of an open field near a pond. Alerting a nearby bear-like beast.

The bear in question noticed what appeared to be a reptilian monstrosity with enlarged claws, shouting a roar as a sign of superiority, the reptile shouted even louder, charging with its claws armed and ready to swipe. The bear had no time to react, being hit by the knife-life swipes. The bear swung back, hitting the reptile in the head, the reptilian beast headbutted the bear in response, knocking it unconscious upon impact.

The reptile had wanted nothing to do with the bear, instead it wanted to hunt the man who had killed its entire pack, the pack it was once head of, for a Deathclaw mother, the beast that is now revealed, without a pack was a creature of pure vengeance that wouldn't stop until its deed was done. The one she hunted was close though, his scent strong in the earth. The smell of metal mixed with the scent of gunpowder was leading north, there was a problem though, there were other scents...Those associated with the pack killer would have to go as well.

The Deathclaw roared once more as the sky filled with stars, a new moon shone itself upon those still awake. Had the Deathclaw looked closer, she would have noticed a camera peeking behind her from atop a newly constructed pillar clad with the symbol of three crystals held aloft by a likeness of a sharpened candelabra.

* * *

Author's Note - Yeesh this was hard, probably my least constructive chapter yet. But at least the Conference is drawing closer, someone mentioned deathclaws a while back and I thought 'Why not a mother?'...Besides it sort of makes sense since there's one location in New Vegas containing well over 36 Deathclaws, shows you can't get them all. Anyway, let me know how this worked out.

Orion was probably too violent even for Orion, but Enclave soldiers are very stubborn in the belief that they are true heirs of the world. I'd say time spent in the wasteland makes all non-Enclavers or Vault Dwellers appear sub-human, that would probably include the Pokemon World as well.


	31. Sympathy For The Devil

Author's Note - Personally I found many more things in FO4 to be terrifying aside from the Salem Deathclaw...remember Swan and the Mirelurk Queen? As for the camera, let's just say I've made up my mind for Alola and that it's epic foreshadowing.

* * *

" _If the nation only knew their hands dripped with innocent blood, it would have met them not with applause but with stones._ "

Marshal Georgy Zhukov on The U.S.S.R

* * *

Courier Six had taken to the Vertibird based in the hanger on the top floor of the Prism Tower, he still found it hard to believe that this hanger was built by a kid who had a hunch that such a thing was necessary. Six didn't feel the need to complain though. The Remnants took to their respective bunks dowstairs, most of them anyway, as Judah was also next to the Vertibird mulling over the map given to him by Gannon. The officer of the Remnants spoke over to Six, currently searching for some food as he didn't feel like cooking.

"Hey Six, something wrong? It isn't about Orion and his stunt earlier is it?" Six looked over to Judah, sitting on a crate that was next to the Verti, Six responded a bit too chidingly at the man.

"Not at all, it's not like he could've killed the one kid whose existence made sure the planet wasn't destroyed, no no I'm _perfectly_ fine." Kreger closed the map, walking over to the courier, both men taking notice of the empty crates of former MRE's eaten by a certain Dragonite, of which it was nowhere to be seen. Six's pokemon were somewhere in the tower as well, likely off which Gannon's and Ulysses' groups.

"Courier, it's awful what the guy did, and I happily reprimanded him. But you can't help everyone in need, if you try then you'll end up like Gannon. Don't tell him I said that by the way." Judah said that last bit rather quickly as Six took a seat on a folding chair, quite easily in fact, as he didn't have his armor on but rather his jumpsuit.

"I know that Kreger...I just don't want this conference thing to wind up being another Hoover Dam, as hard as I tried we were still unprepared. Maybe I should've told Boone to pack an extra shotgun or something."

"Oh boy, it's about the Dam huh? Look, Daisy told us what happened from her angle after the battle was over, and I'll be damned if I could've done any better in your shoes son. Much as we don't like NCR, Boone was good in our books, both of you did good. Now that that's off the table, I've another thing to ask you."

"Shoot away."

"You been sleeping well son? Any night terrors? I know it can't be easy with all that our group's gone through, but House suggested I-" Six looked up at the name, surprise in his eyes.

"When the hell did you talk to House?" Six wanted some answers now, as this was the first time anything of this nature had ever popped up. Judah popped open a Nuka-Cola from a nearby crate, the box filled to the brim with them.

"*Sigh* Several days after you set off for Big MT. Mr. House saw no harm in us, so he communicated with us through one of his Securitrons, worried that his right-hand might've been facing the qualms of mental shock." Six was slightly agitated now. Even the big man himself was worried that Six was going off the deep end.

"So he thought I was losing my shit? Look, I'm perfectly fine Kreger. I'll see you in the morning, don't go talking to anyone else about _my_ problems." With that, Six went downstairs, leaving Judah to his own devices.

* * *

The courier decided some fresh air would ease his mind and immediate headache. Going outside, he noticed that the sky had gotten progressively deeper in blue, to the point that it was akin to looking at a deep ocean. Six also noticed two more things.

One: His companions were nipping at his heels, the Espurr both figuratively and literally.

Two: He was hearing some sort of commotion in one of the parks, looking closer, Six saw Gannon feeding his group some sort of berries. The good doctor heard Six approaching, his facial expression stuck in a small smile.

"Ah Six, come to join the all-nighters huh? Well your cat's always welcome at least. It's as if that thing never slept a day in its life." Six only chuckled, the Espurr taking her place on his left shoulder.

"It's a _she_ Gannon, even I figured it out, and I'm the guy who can't even differentiate between a male or female Nightstalker."

"Well it's simple really, you see what you can do to tell is-"

"I don't want to hear it...please. So what are you guys doing out here? And where's Ulysses?" Gannon pushed up his glasses and held his flabebe in his hand, the little flower pokemon snoring softly.

"Ulysses is...somewhere. As for me, figured some time away from the old family would do some good...Orion clearly hasn't aged well has he?"

"Nope, he's lucky I didn't knock his block off honestly. At least Kreger spoke to him."

"That's good, Judah was always the closest I could call to an Uncle. I'm happy to see they're all together at least, this is insanity isn't it?"

"What is? Us being here?"

"Exactly. Here are three dangerous men and an entire squad of the most dangerous paramilitary troops this side of the continent. Mix them in with a laboratorial complex that has a less-than-satisfactory safety standard and moral compass and put all that in a world where a group of red-headed morons are our most pressing threat." Six stretched a bit, cracking his back in the process.

"They're more dangerous than you think...they raided Big Mountain."

"Jeesh, and they got through you?"

"They had an army...the cyber-dogs didn't stand a chance, lord knows what they stole though..."

"The brains didn't say a thing about it?"

"They wouldn't tell me. We figured that this Lysandre prick is going to show up at the conference starting in a couple of days. We tag him, bag him and ship his ass off to the lab."

"I'm not even going to bother asking what you intend to do."

"Mah boi. Some things are better left unanswered."

* * *

As Gannon and Six were talking amongst themselves, we turn over to the pokemon. Where Lilligant and Roxie were staring each other down, with Roxie speaking up first.

"Firstly, nice flower...Secondly, no Honey. I don't pollinate, I don't roll that way." Lilligant looked flabbergasted, holding a leaf...arm to her face in a dramatic fashion.

"Well thank you, and sorry. I don't like stingers in my flower. I'm happy being a pure Lilligant."

"Well...aren't you a bit condescending? What garden were you dug out of?"

"I beg your pardon? Why the sudden rudeness?" Both William and Audino butted in before any conflict could arise out of the situation. William spoke up first, followed by Audino.

"C'mon guys. Our trainers are friends, why can't we be the same?"

"Oui, we can all get along, yes?" Roxie spoke her peace, giving her opinion on the plant.

"I'm good with first impressions, wanna hear mine?" Lilligant got into the face of the Cazador, fire showing in her eyes.

"I'd be honored, you glorified hornet."

"You're annoying, just your tone of voice makes me cringe."

"Ugh..whatever." Lilligant gave a dismissive flip with her arm.

"Y'see? Like that right there. Plus you're a plant...I've heard about Vault 22 from Six, and I'm surprised he isn't getting nightmarish flashbacks just from looking at you."

"What's that supposed to mean? Do I need to get a flyswatter on you?"

"I dare you, ya little runt." Audino just put her hand to her forehead.

"Oh c'est horrible...is..is Roxie always like this?" The Quilladin thought for a moment.

"Well...I know she used to be another pokemon, so maybe she's originally a territorial sort."

"Another pokemon? How can that be?"

"I'm not really su...Uh oh."

"Uh?...Oh no."

Before them stood two pokemon hellbent on possibly killing each other, this gained the attention of the two wastelanders. Each bringing their own threats into play, no matter how pathetic they sounded.

"Lilligant! I'll bring out the pesticide if you don't cut it out!"

"Roxie! Don't make me bring out the dog whistle!"

"Why a dog whistle? What are you going to do, blow it until she eventually hears the thing?"

"Cry me a river and build a damned bridge over it Gannon! Get your plant before she and Roxie end up killing one another along with, potentially, us in the process."

"Great plan...great plan Six. Though I do like being alive."

As both men picked up their respective pokemon, one hissing and another constantly spouting its name in seperate syllables, we turn over to the Espurr who had joined the more peaceful of Six and Gannon's team, William noticed this immediately, cracking a smile and a small wave.

"Hiya Espurr, doing ok?" The cat only nodded, adding to the creep factor that was surely felt by Audino.

"Are you...sure that the Espurr is ok? She seems a tad...off." William, however, just shook it off.

"Nah, she's always been like that. Ever since she was given to us by Lord Xerneas...at least that's what my trainer was grumbling about." Audino held in a surprised gasp, putting a paw to her mouth.

"Lord Xerneas? They must really honor your trainer." Audino's eyes were shimmering with admiration

"Not really...from what I can tell, Xerneas and my trainer don't get along...Roxie almost fought them as well." Audino went wide-eyed at this statement, hardly believing her own ears.

"I doubt she is mentally well, if she went as far as to actually threaten Xerneas...She is either really headstrong or insane...perhaps both?"

* * *

We soon transfer our sights over to three of our favorite dimwits, fresh from exhaustion after working a night shift under disguise. Team Rocket's plan to infiltrate the conference was...lacking in success, but a need for a couple of reporters on the arena field seemed perfect to get close and observe both their twerp and the Team Flare terrorists. Of the three, James spoke first.

"I hope the stadium accepts our guise...*GRUMBLE* Oh my stomach hurts...I hope we get a free lunch." The second, Jesse, spoke next. Obviously aggravated at the turn-out.

"Stop whining and be thankful that courier didn't kill us...how did he see through our disguises earlier?" Jesse put a finger to her chin, deep in thought.

"Maybe it's because of your hair...I mean it does defy gravity after all. it wasn't just him either, his entire team saw through us."

"You're right, it's as if they're...smarter than we gave them credit for."

"Well they destroyed the Roboto-Meowth without a single pokemon, besi-"

*GRRRR*

Passing by a dark alleyway somewhere across town, Team Rocket had heard a large growl emit from the depths of the deep dark hole between two buildings. Out of the darkness shone one bright red slit, seemingly staring at the three. Meowth took a closer look, speaking to the two humans behind him.

"Da tinig says that it smells his scent on us." Jesse curiously hooked an eyebrow up.

"His, whose scent?"

"Exactly da same ting I'm wonde-oh boy."

The slit soon became more visible, revealing an eye belonging to a twelve foot tall beast feared and reviled by the Mojave, the Deathclaw Female. The reptile forked its tongue out, gathering a scent of her soon to be victim. Immediately she raised a claw to the trio, of whom they were shaking in fear and terror.

*GRAWR...* James spoke for both of the Rocket humans, he himself nearly bending onto his knees.

"Care to t-t-translate for us?"

"S-s-s-sure...She says he can't be missed, nearly nine feet and carries a large weapon..." Jesse had a figurative lightbulb blick over her head.

"Nine feet? Sounds like the madman who destroyed your robot. Right?"

"Exactly, listen bub. I don't know why you want to find dis guy, but we can help. You find him, we help knock him down a notch." The deathclaw just shook her head, pointing a claw to the alley.

"Apparently its a female, guarding something of value in da alley, she doesn't want the 'pack-killer' to find it for fear of her pack going extinct." James, less nervous now, interjected.

"Extinct? What's back there I wonder?" As James prepared to walk to the alley, he was stopped by a massive claw blocking his way. With an *Eep* and a jump, he backed away into Jesse's arms.

"She says dat anyone who dares enter her nest would be dinner. I wouldn't push my luck Jamesy boy." Meowth was sweating bullets now, he had to play mediator between a massive killing machine and a duo of dimwits. Meowth prepared a plan for the group, the deathclaw listening rather boredly.

"So listen up, you want dat courier? We strike at him in da morning." James spoke next, his being nervously close to the deathclaw.

"How can we even get him? He probably got together with everyone in that group by now...in fact they're probably expecting us."

"Ah, but dey don't expect this big girl right here!"

As the group discussed the issues for the next day, there sat an entity amongst the roofs of Lumiose, wary of the danger at hand. Likewise, there were brains at Big MT who discovered just how small, and dangerous, of a world their's really was. For a deathclaw loose in Lumiose was sure to spell disaster for any party...But between the parties who killed for the greater good, and the parties who stole for the greater evil. Then what of the party who represented grey?

The Mojave fully arrives on the doorstep of an innocent planet. Hellbent on making a change, for better or for worse, is up to those who deliver the final blow. No matter the outcome, a storm is surging on the horizon followed by a realization that nothing can be the same ever again.

* * *

Author's Note - Part 1 of 3 of the fifth and next to final day is coming along slowly, this winter cold isn't going away and I'm sleeping most of the time that I'm home. That at least explains part of the reason that this took so long.


	32. Like A Rolling Stone

It was close to dawn in Lumiose City. As people across the town awoke to a smiling sun, something much darker was lurking in the shadows criss-crossing the alleyways. We soon find ourselves turning to Six and Gannon, both men had gone to the Vertibird to grab some food for themselves, whilst their pokemon and angry giant bug had gathered some berries that grew on the very bountiful trees famed in Kalos. Six spoke up first, staring out towards the orange sky.

"Y'know, maybe it isn't so bad here. I haven't been threatened by one Viper or Fiend my entire time in Kalos." Gannon was busy eating a piece of corn, grown and preserved by the Remnants.

"So what's your point? The Mojave still needs people like us...don't they?"

"Gannon." Six stood up, his being grabbing a fruit from a nearby tree. "The Mojave hasn't had a single war in five years, with the Brotherhood gone and the Legion destroyed; we haven't had any reason to worry. House has New Vegas running at top-notch capacity and I'd been bored out of my wits before the little incident. This place could use a few guys like us to take out the trash."

"Well the locals sure don't agree with the methods."

"Screw 'em, we've got guns, explosives and a Vertibird. Those Team Flare morons have another thing coming when they see us dropping on them from the sky." Gannon was rubbing the head of the Audino now, who was purring gently in delight.

"You know, we never explained a plan to deal with the conference. No doubt there's going to be a police presence, and no doubt there'll be a Flare presence as well...we need to adopt a strategy aimed at limiting friendly fire. Explosives would be a no-go on this one." Six went blank, Gannon was right. They really didn't have a plan.

"Well...let's wait on Ulysses, wherever the hell he is, he needs to know this too." As Six finished speaking, a figure approached from the darkness. Ulysses: The master of stealth.

"Someone call me?" Both Gannon and Six jumped, the two men relaxing shortly thereafter. Courier Six spoke first, gathering his breath.

"Ya gotta stop doing that. One of us could get a heart attack! We're not as young as we used to be y'know." Ulysses nodded in understanding.

"I hear you loud and clear. The Follower is right though. We need a plan to stop any interference with the tournament tomorrow."

"Tournament?"

"That's right, the conference consists of a tournament attended by the best trainers that Kalos has to offer...Also. I have some...terrible news to report." Gannon raised his hand, to the confusion of the other two men.

"Yes it was I. I ate the last of the Lum berries. Sue me."

"Firstly Follower. I called that berry, but secondly. We have a serious matter on our hands." Six stood up, running his hand through his brushed back hair.

"How serious can it be? It's not like a deathclaw came out of-"

*BEEP BEEP BEEP* Gannon noticed Six's giant Pip-Boy attachment going off.

"Six, your alarm clock is saying that it's time to wake up." Gannon just chuckled at himself.

"Quiet you, it's not an alarm clock, it's a friggin' add-on that Zero literally welded onto my Pip-Boy. Let's see here, press the message button...Ah there we go."

 _To: Courier Six_  
 _From: Big MT (The Think Tank)_

 _Courier, we have some troubling news. Last night another portal opened up. We've only to theorize that our original opening might be becoming more unstable as time passes, if that is true, then it's a high chance that it won't be safe enough to return home._

 _Another matter was regarding the contents of the new opening. A creature that can only be identified as a Deathclaw female has manifested itself into the region; more than likely headed towards your destination._

 _A disturbing detail to report is that we've caught sight of a camera post near our lab, thankfully we've disabled it with one of our robo-scorpions. We've sent you the insignia regarding the post as a disclosure to keep an eye open for unwarranted, suspicious activity._

 _Signed; Dr. Mobius_

The insignia based on the unknown camera post was attached to the message. Six showed the picture to both Ulysses and Gannon, both of whom offered their own opinions.

"Must be some sort of research team, placing devices like this in a sparse area is rather curious."

"It honestly just looks like a candelabra to me...Maybe Liberace's just as prominent in Kalos as well?" Six had a figurative question mark over his head, to which Gannon only sighed in defeat.

"Nevermind...though that is a curious emblem. I haven't seen anything similar to it around here. Has to be a foreign presence." Six shut down the LIMA, opting to prepare to return to the Prism Tower. Gannon was curious as to his motives.

"Six...what exactly are you doing?"

"Why it's simple Gannon. We're going on a Deatchclaw hunt, just like the old days."

"Yeah, in the old days we had ED-E, Veronica, Raul and half a ton of your improvised explosives to help us out if we got in a bind. All we've got here are adorable little animals." Six immediately added to Gannon's comment, determination in his voice.

"That can potentially rip anything apart if they try hard enough, we've also got a quarter ton of explosives left. Besides, I've been dying for a Deathclaw Omelette, maybe she brought an egg with her." Gannon figured that Six was only chasing this monstrosity for his breakfast.

"Fine...wait for me." Both men, one dejectedly and another walking tall, waltzed into the tower. Leaving Ulysses to keep watch for the beast.

\- Several hours later

We see the newly power-armored courier and the...same labcoat wearing Gannon leave the tower, obviously arguing about something. Six was throwing his arms up into the air in a rather exaggerative fashion

"It's not my fault that my suit is screwing up! My servo's are honestly junk at this point. "

"Your servo's do indeed look like crap...In fact they look like they came off of a dumpster!"

"That's because they did. Replaced them back in Shalour City." Six now stood heroically, a reminder of the hero that once roamed the Mojave...Now being used as a jungle gym for the Espurr, Flabebe and even the Audino that accompanied the two men. "Gannon...Get them off of me." Gannon only held in a laugh for a few seconds before bursting.

"Six *HAHA* I would bud, but you're perfect for THIS job! I mean, Flabebe and Audino love everyone apparently. But that Espurr ' _I think that's what it is anyway'_ is about as close as you can get to an actual cat. I've always figured you as a dog person though..."

"Yeah yeah. You sure it was a good idea not to inform the Remnants?"

"Personally yes, they have enough problems dealing with the conference regarding land and aerial security for our plan and what not."

"I suppose so...would be nice to have a Verti out in the sky to help us though." Six then pointed to Ulysses, soon pointing to a park nearby. "Ulysses, think you can cover our flank? We check the south while you make sure the thing doesn't sneak towards the center." Ulysses only gave a grunt and a nod. "Alright then guys, let's go hunting for a Deathclaw!"

* * *

As the three men and their respective pokemon scoured Lumiose for the dangerous mutation, the creature in question was nesting in an alleyway out towards the south, incubating her only remaining egg. It was truthful that Deathclaws were numerous throughout the West, that was only due to their ferocious nature. It was known that their eggs took quite a long time to hatch and that special care was needed to protect them from harm, despite their sturdiness.

This Female in particular had birthed her final egg, with no pack and no other protectors to guard her egg, it truly was the last of its pack. The egg had been carried for nearly two months inside a special pouch that deathclaws developed to carry such an object, not unlike that of a kangaroo's. You may be wondering, how does the last of a pack gain access to an egg? Well dear reader, it's rather simple. Though deathclaws operate in a pack nature, they still maintained the intelligence that those out west were known for, meaning that, through some form or ritual of diplomacy, one pack could theoretically fold into another. Such was the case before.

Our deathclaw had also figured that she could have been set-up, the strange furry animal she had talked to, rude as it was, had agreed to help track her packs destroyer and bring closure to herself. As it may be, it's the first time in over fifty (Or was it forty) years that she figured a deathclaw agreed to work alongside humans. Immediately, her eye shot open. His scent was near...Something more had appeared, a scent akin to that of a laboratory, the smell of cleaning alcohol was faint but noticeable. The smell of dust and gunpowder was stronger, though and she brought herself up to face the threat.

* * *

Somewhere farther away, the three Rockets were enjoying a breakfast fit for a criminal. James wattled away at the capabilities the Deathclaw could have.

"It might be some sort of reptile, possibly a ground type if anything. The large size clearly denotes a high defense while the lithe figure complements to a fast speed." Meowth just yawned, mulling over his eggs and toast.

"Yeah yeah, what I'm interested in is dat egg she had."

"She had an egg?"

"Dat's right, a big one too. It's gotta be close to hatchin'!" Jesse, now finished with her food, curiously looked towards Nyar-I mean Meowth.

"What would we even do with that kind of egg? It's no pokemon I've ever seen." Meowth held a finger to her face, wagging it nonchalantly.

"Dat's cause it ain't a pokemon. It's one of a kind! Imagine da boss's face when he gets da rarest of da rare. We'd be super-rockets!" James took a sip of his juice, thinking about the idea.

"Meowth has a point Jess, besides, it might be trainable just like any other pokemon. If it's as tough as that courier fellow, then we've got a winner." Jesse figured they had a point.

"I suppose so...so when are we going to help that..thing?"

"Dat's da ting...we aren't! We're gonna wait until it finds da courier guy, both of 'em beat each other up, den we steal da egg for ourselves...maybe even the momma if we're lucky!" Jesse let her lips curl into a smile.

"There's not a single day I regret being evil. After breakfast, to the rooftops we go!" Jesse laughed triumphantly.

* * *

Nearby, two figures dressed in bright white clothing was listening on the three rockets. One of them whispered in a relatively high male voice, clearly showing his displeasure. His green glasses shimmering from the risen sun

"Can you believe those morons? We've got to get that thing before any harm comes to it, if it's as rare as they said it was, then we have to capture both the egg and the mother at the same time to ensure their safety." The other voice, this time of a softer female nature, agreed immediately.

"That's right. However, it could prove useful against the Ultra-Beasts if worst has to come to worst."

"Gah. I came here to take a vacation..but it looks like work had to follow us here didn't it? I'm not complaining though." The unknown female took a sip of her drink, smiling at the passerby.

"Maybe we're just doomed to work." The woman laughed at her own joke. "Did they verify that it was the same creature caught on the camera from last night?"

"That's right. I'm fearing that it might even be one of the beasts itself, judging from the way it appeared...We should send the two employees that were stationed in Kalos to monitor the southern corner, just in case it lashes out." The unknown female took out a keypad, directing the said employees to southern Lumiose where the creature was theoritically positioned. The unknown woman, now repositioning her glasses, spoke to the man worriedly.

"I hope Lusamine doesn't get carried away over this one."

As she sat the device down on its front, the insignia that was similar to that on the camera post was clearly visible on the back.

* * *

Author's note - I know I probably took some creative liberties here, and some things may not be canon. But I'm a tired writer. I write things as I go and thus they may not be perfect. People seem to enjoy the story nonetheless.

The Deathclaws...ah yes the talking ones specifically, there's a bit of lore regarding these curiosities. Goris was a companion in Fallout 2, his secret? He was an albino deathclaw with the intelligence of a human, it might be possible that his intelligence branched out. But that's probably just the whiskey talking

I'll be releasing the next in this trio of Deathclaw-based chapters possibly over the weekend.

Signed; The poor bastard who got stuck with the flu in the middle of the winter vortex.


	33. And The Band Played On

The day was just beginning for four certain children and their two tiny mouse companions. One in particular, the inventive Clemont, decided to head over to the Prism Tower, in which his younger sister was asking to come along. Seeing no harm in it, Clemont and his younger sister Bonnie set off towards the tower, leaving Ash and Serena to themselves.

Ash was bored, to say the least, Serena at least enjoyed the quietness and calmness of the atmosphere. Immediately though, Ash spoke up.

"Y'know what Serena? We should explore Lumiose City some more!" Serena, confused as she was, remarked with a small hint of sadness.

"But why? Haven't we explored Lumiose already?" She was right of course. The team had spent about five episodes exploring Lumiose City, it didn't bother Ash any though. The Pallet Towner was an adventerous soul. It's a fact that being such an adventurer will eventually find you trouble though, and sometimes that trouble might be bigger than you can handle.

Nevertheless, Ash was adamant in his cause, throwing on his trademark hat and short-sleeved jacket and preparing to face to the world. Serena just sighed. _Same old Ash_ she thought. But Serena, despite this, decided to walk alongside Ash, both of them deciding on going to Southern Lumiose.

* * *

\- Somewhere on Southern Boulevard

Six and Gannon were bored. A two hour search turned nothing up, aside from a few glares and tilted heads. A smooth masculine voice immediately snapped out of the quiet, calm air. One mostly familiar to Six.

"Hello there. are you two lost by any chance?"

Looking to his left, Six saw two people and a cat dressed in trenchcoats, three characters we all know and love. These three probably in the worst disguises he'd ever seen in his entire life. Gannon just stared at Six in confusion, the power-armored behemoth laughing as though he'd just seen the best comical act on The Strip. Courier Six finally managed to talk, crunching his knuckles and preparing his hammer.

"You three really are morons...Didn't I give you three a hint in the restaurant yesterday? I can see through all your disguises, simple as that." Jesse spoke next, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Calm yourself, we've only come here to give you...some information."

"Oh that's a laugh! What could you possibly kn-"

"I heard your looking for a certain...reptile." Six holstered his hammer, crossing his arms so as to not strangle the redhead to death.

"Talk. You have five minutes before I slice and dice your asses."

"Hmhmhmm, well, it's hunting for you. Simple as that, she's tracking you by your scent."

"Hold on a minute...she?" Meowth spoke next.

"Dat's right, she said dat she's protectin' her egg close by. Best way to do dat is to find da 'pack-killer."

"Pack-killer?...oh fucking hell. Gannon, we must've missed one back in the Mojave!" Gannon put a hand to his chin, figuring the possibilities.

"I would guess it had to have been one from the Deathclaw Breeding Grounds, before the Battle for The Dam. There were well over forty of the nightmares there at our point and time, so it's very likely that we did miss one."

"Gannon, if it was one of those from the Breeding Grounds, and it's a she...Do you know what we're dealing with?" Gannon only shook his head. "It's a goddamned mother. The biggest of the big."

"I thought we knew it was a female"

"We did, but I thought it was just a normal female...I didn't expect an actual mother though...How did she find you three idiots?" Meowth just replied nonchalantly.

"It's simple, she said she smelled your scent on us."

"My scent?...Oh christ the kids!"

"What about da twer-GAH!" Meowth was pushed aside by Six's boot as the courier proceeded to grab the two humans.

"Listen up you two, either you're going to help us find this thing and its egg, or I crush your carotid arteries right here and now!" James, fearful for his life, immediately agreed. At which he was released from the couriers grasp alongside Jesse.

"Good, now we've gotta find the thing before it attacks the kids." James spoke up once more, this time much more timidly.

"We hid the egg, no worries there." This earned a glare from Jesse and Meowth. "...It wouldn't attack children...would it?"

"Blue hair, it attacks whatever the hell it wants. Roxie! I want you to take to the air, find that damn thing and report back when you find it." Roxie buzzed in agreement, gaining altitude to search for the beast. Six spoke once more, this time to Gannon. "Keep a watch on these three, they're bad news." The Follower, armed with a plasma pistol, grunted in acknowledgement.

The group set off towards the center, wary of their surroundings. The streets seemed almost empty, despite it being late-morning.

* * *

Ash and Serena had just finished breakfast. Ash himself had an early morning battle with Pikachu against Serena's Braixen. Pikachu won of course, and Serena seemed happy to have the battle finished. She spoke to Ash, figuring on what they should do to pass the time.

"Hmm...we could visit Professor Sycamore, maybe I can get a new style for my hair...Braixen herself is looking fluffier than usual." Ash, his usual demeanor gone, looked around, ignoring the comments from Serena in the process. The trainer spoke to her immediately.

"Serena, do you notice something...off? There was indeed something off, the streets were filled with activity a few short hours ago, now they were deserted, save for a few passerby. Ash decided to talk to one, now seen as a policeman of some sort.

"Excuse me..sir? Where's everyone at?" The officer immediately responded in a gruff manner, his hat covering his eyes.

"Some sort of dangerous pokemon was spotted around here earlier. Everyone's been advised to stay indoors at all times until we say so, you would do well to do the same kiddo."

"A dangerous pokemon? What did it do?"

"The thing flew into a rage, tossing cars around as though they were toys. Several pokemon maintained by the Jennies got severely injured, lightning nor fire did a thing to it." Ash was curious. He'd been in dangerous situations before, what made this so different?

"How about I help? I've dealt with dangerous pokemon before!" Serena just sweatdropped. Ash was determined, hopefully the officer would decl-

"If you want to try and go for it, then good luck kid." Wait...just like that? No help or anything. Well, this was the pokemon world after all. What else can you expect?

With a nod to Serena and Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder, Ash set off to find the mysterious monster that had caused a panic in Southern Lumiose, it wouldn't take long for them to find the beast, for it had appeared before their eyes, jumping off the top of a newly crushed car. The officer immediately took notice, tossing out a pokeball containing a large, orange-red canine.

"Arcanine, flamethrower!" The dog did as it was told, spouting flame from its mouth. This did little damage to the reptile, instead only enraging it further. The beast charged towards the dog. "Dodge it! You kids better get out of here." The fire dog dodged the attack, but the Deathclaw kept charging, running towards the officer. His life flashing before his eyes, the deathclaw grabbed the officer, slamming him into the side of a small compact. The policeman prepared for the worst as the deathclaw raised her claw, her sight set on causing the death of one more who had impeded on her objective.

The attack never connected though, for a certain courier had arrived just at the right time to swing a hammer across the right thigh of the beast from behind. Gannon had appeared as well, checking the officer for any critical injuries. Of whom he was grateful towards.

"Thanks bud..who are you guys?" Gannon responded as he looked towards Six, taunting the raging beast into attacking him.

"Oh we're nobody in particular. Just people who want to stop the world from burning." Gannon yelled to Six. "That's definitely a deathclaw mother by the way. Careful Si-whoa!" Gannon's Lilligant had taken to the attack, launching a mega-drain without any order on the Followers part. Her attack failed to connect, as the thick hide of the deathclaw rendered such an attack null. Ash decided to get in on the action, opting to use pikachu to distract the beast.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" The electric mouse's tail shone a bright silver, with great speed and agility, the Pikachu jumped towards the deathclaw, smashing his tail into the back of the reptile, causing it to roar in agony.

The attack gave Six enough time to further weaken the beast. Six, taking out a grenade he packed for such an emergency, lifted the beasts head by one of the horns to open its mouth. The monster came to, faster than the courier had thought, and knocked the grenade out of the courier's glove. The beast roared in Six's face, the courier pushed the beast back, knocking it a good five feet, enough distance to handle a sledge.

Serena called her braixen into the fray, the bipedal fox looked shocked at the hulking mass of spines, claws and horns, but she stood steadfast as her trainer gave an order. "Ember!" As soon as the order was given, Braixen lauched a ring of fire towards the deathclaw, aiming at the same spot where Pikachu had hit it with iron tail. The beast cried in even more pain, the weak spot causing a moderate distraction for Six to catch his breath. The courier in question pulled a double barrel, both shells hitting the face of the monstrosity, still the deathclaw chose to stand and fight.

Six was aggravated at this point, this deathclaw was a tough one. If only Ulysses were here. Where was he anyway? No time to think on it now, for the deathclaw had begun its charging claw attack, Six narrowly dodged the right claw, which had embedded itself into the wall of a nearby shop. This gave Six the initiative to attack full-force, hitting the tail of the beast, Six ultimately limited the agility that deathclaws were imfamous for.

Her claw now out of the building, the deathclaw set her sights on Ash, the one who caused her weakness to be revealed. Pushing aside the courier, now armed with his all-reliable LMG, she charged towards the child, his eyes laden with fear. The courier wouldn't have any of it though, firing high-velocity death at the reptile, hitting her already injured left leg in the process. Ash couldn't help but feel remorse, the deathclaw held her claw up, her being not even three feet away, the boy figured she was begging for mercy. Ash hoped to stop the courier, now charging at the deathclaw with a hammer, from killing her.

"Stop! I think she's giving up, is that right gi-mhppp!" The deathclaw sprung back up, pinning him to the wall with her right claw, her left claw prepared to spear him. Six thankfully wasn't caught off guard by the maneuver as the others were, dropping the hammer and instead launching himself onto the beasts back, he aimed for the neck, his two arms wrapping around the beasts neck with one arm clasped tightly to her jaw, a single crack pierced the air, signifying the end of the most dangerous of the Mojave's creatures.

Ash sat on the ground, thankful for the assistance of the power-armored courier. The officer at this point was in total shock, never had he seen someone attack a monster like this before, no less kill it. The policeman confronted Six, who seemed eerily calm for a man who just snapped the neck of a twelve foot monstrosity.

"Sir..uhm..I need you to come with me to the station...we need to figure out what just ha-*CLUNK*" The officer was knocked out by the courier and his fists of fury, now looking to Ash and his Pikachu, then back to Gannon, Six saw that Team Rocket was nowhere to be seen.

"Goddamned morons...Gannon! Keep an eye on the kids, those idiots are after something. I'm finding out what it is."

"Gotcha, we'll stick close."

As Six ran towards one of the alleys, he caught sight of a certain Meowth running with something heavy on his back. Upon closer inspection it was surely some sort of egg...an egg very very close to hatching. Six could hear Jesse going on about endless promotions that seemed to be little more than pipe dreams, such a shame that he would have to end them abrubtly.

"-then we can live our lives in complete luxury as the boss wouldn't need protection ever again!" James was next, stars in his eyes.

"We'd be the Rockets of the century! No more harvesting scraps to get by."

*SHING* Six armed his LMG, fully loaded and fully aimed.

"Speaking of scraps, you three are going to be nothing but a horrendous mess unless you give up the egg." Jesse decided to try and play against the courier, something she would immediately regret.

"Oh really, what are you going to do if we-Ghuu!" Jesse was knocked cold, the brunt of Six's fist hitting her square in the jaw. The remaining two Rockets were shaking now, afraid of the consequences leading up to this point.

"I won't say it again." Six once again aimed his machine gun down on the two remaining Rockets. "Give me the damned egg!" Meowth, now seeing the severity of the situation, set the egg down slowly and backed himself and James away.

"Dere ya go...it's da egg you wanted, please..don't hurt Jess or us, she's always been da loudmouth of da group." Meowth was literally on the verge of tears, something Six honestly regretted at this point, the courier holstered his rifle, looking down to the unconscious Jesse.

"God...ugh..I'm not going to kill you...just...just get out of here...GO!" With the two conscious Rockets leaving, Six looked down the egg. Just what the hell was he going to do with this thing?

"Fucking hell..." Six had said to no one in particular.

As the courier walked back to the group, the officer still unconscious and Ash now back to normal, the Pallet Towner noticed the egg.

"So that's what Team Rocket was after?" Six nodded, the large egg fitting just in the palm of his hand.

"Yep...inside this egg is a killing machine...Where's the deathclaw?" Six was right, the deathclaw was nowhere to be found, as though it had disappeared. Gannon stepped up, explaining the situation.

"I don't even know, it disappeared in this bright light from another alleyway, not really sure who would want a dead deathclaw though."

"Well...we got the egg, that's all that matters."

"So what happens now?"

"I don't even know Gannon...I don't even know."

As Six carried the egg back to the Prism Tower, he found Ulysses, unconscious in one of the central parks. The find worried the courier, but thankfully the former Legionnaire was still breathing, his pokemon standing guard until he woke up. Six approached the group, who had acknowledged his presence.

"So what happened? Ulysses' never got knocked out before, at least from my knowledge." The Sawk pointed towards one of the alleyways, Six supposed it may have been connected to the disappearance of the deathclaw.

"Well, we got what we came for, it's best to rest up for now." Ash decided to walk next to Six, primarily to apologize.

"Apologize? Apologize for what kid?"

"I let my guard down. I should've known better than to let that..whatever it was, approach me."

"Trust me..It makes me feel happy that kids here don't have to worry about death on a daily basis. I'm glad your region doesn't invest in child soldiers."

"Children were soldiers back where you come from?"

"Yeah...talk to Gannon about it...I really don't like remembering what happened east of the Colorado. _I can still remember the bodies, one of them didn't even look ten yet..."_ Six was deep in thought, something Ash took notice to immediately

"What was that last bit?"

"Huh? Oh, it was nothing. You can break off of our group after we get to the tower, sound good?" Ash only nodded, not accepting the couriers explanation.

* * *

As the group approached the Prism Tower, they were met with Clemont, who appeared as though nothing was wrong. The blonde inventor waved over to the team.

"Hey there! I saw what happened on the live security feed." Six was confused now.

"Live what?"

"Live security feed, I have it based at the top of the tower to keep watch over the property. The guys upstairs are upset you didn't bring them along though." Six only chuckled, he also noticed that Ulysses was still knocked out.

"Sounds like them, it was for their own good though." Six took his helmet off, as Gannon opted to hold the egg for the rest of the journey. "We ran into...a tight situation."

"Well..we have the conference tomorrow, and you all look like you exhausted yourselves, why not get some rest?" Ash interjected, standing close to Serena, who only blushed in response.

"Me and Serena had originally planned to go around town some more, you aren't finished yet are you?"

"Not at all, the Prism Tower's security system needs a total overhaul to stay current. I'll probably be here until the evening." As Clemont spoke, Six had noticed the egg was now moving about.

"Uhm...the damn thing's about to hatch!" As Six and the rest of the group entered the Prism Tower, they were being observed. Two figures, both in bright white uniforms, observe the group from afar. a feminine voice spoke up first, concern in her tone.

"It's a shame we weren't able to capture the anomaly alive...but at least we can still get the baby, right?" a male figure responds chidely, annoyance in his tone.

"I doubt it...they're as well armed as any military force I've seen, they don't seem to be mercs so money isn't on the table. Something deeper is transitioning here, just like those unknown signals constantly bouncing from our satellite."

"A mocha-latte says the signals and these guys are part of the same deal."

"I'll hold you to that, we should inform L first though."

* * *

Meanwhile; at Lysandre Labs.

* * *

Lysandre's force had been gathering information at a lightning fast rate. His staff had suggested to abandon a central attack at the Lumiose Conference in favor of shutting down the entrances to Lumiose City, so as to hold the populace hostage to the power of Team Flare. it didn't matter to him, for other problems had arisen that needed urgent attention.

It had seemed that a part of Lysandre Labs had been destroyed, on closer inspection, it was! A faulty missile proved to be the undoing of the newly-formed ballistics branch of his complex. Likewise, the toxicology branch had destroyed itself from the inside, via supposed sabotage of the air-tight containers. Lysandre seated himself at his desk, one of his subordinated informing him of Z2 being ready for next days attack.

"Wonderful, wonderful. Has the lower level been fully cleaned yet?" The subordinate, a male Flare member, responded briskly.

"We're currently at four-fifths completion. We can expect it to be cleaned fully by this evening."

"Wonderful. I can expect Z2 to operate at full capacity come tomorrow evening at the very least. Afterwards we can rebuild the previous branches of our labs to operate as we see fit."

"Yes sir, anything else?"

"Nothing more, you're excused."

As Lysandre observed the recruit take leave, he made it his goal to personally defeat the guardian of that accursed lab, the same lab that his organization was nearly destroyed for.

But first, he had a few loose ends to look into, namely this new-found 'Aether Corps' that had emerged recently in Kalos from Alola.

"Interesting, so their operatives are interested in the Guardian as well? Let's see how well the game plays with them in the fray."

* * *

Authors note - This was probably a boring and weak chapter, but I was running out of ideas. So we're going to skip over to the night before the final day. I've also plans to include more dialogue with everybody's favorite cat and deer.

So why didn't I make Six's pokemon fight? Well naturally they aren't fighters, Roxie knows the dangers of deathclaws and William is honestly a bit of a wimp. The Espurr just wants everything to die personally. The only real battler on Six and Gannons team would be Lilligant, Ulysses...well Onix is his powerhouse I would suppose.

So, was this good? Not good? Absolute garbage? Let me know.

Signed; He who wakes every hundred years...and goes back to sleep shortly after


	34. Gimme Shelter

" _Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will._ "

Mohandas Ghandi

* * *

The evening had come and gone without so much activity, the interior of the Prism Tower laying witness to boredom for several wastelanders and their companions. Courier Six sat upon a bench, outside of his battered and worn power suit that would need repairs immediately for the coming day, the man, his beard clearly needing a trim, turned his gaze over to Ulysses, who had just woken up.

"Morning sunshine, you missed breakfast." Ulysses held a hand to his head, groaning in pain from a supposed headache.

"Very funny Courier...what happened?"

"Well...we found the deathclaw, turned out to be a mother..and I snapped her neck like a boot on a twig."

"Anything else?"

"We found an egg. Club Spaceship or whatever they're called tried stealing it, thankfully they didn't get far." This woke Ulysses up completely.

"An egg huh? Any activity from it?" The courier stood up, cracking his neck and back from the lack of recent movement.

"There was, for a while. The thing stopped moving about after an hour or so...I guess my thoughts on it hatching were off by a long shot. So, what the hell happened to you? I've never seen you face down on the ground in the entire five years I've known ya."

"That's the thing. I don't know either. this weird yellow haze appeared out of nowhere, caused me to become...exhausted and tired." Gannon immediately appeared in the room, the egg nowhere in his hand.

"Sounds like you were hit by Sleep Powder." Six tilted his head and wore a confused emotion on his face.

"Sleep Powder? Gannon, I'm pretty sure someone would have to get close to toss what I assume is pocket sand."

"Actually it's a pokemon move, hits opponents from a good distance away and knocks em out without so much as a finger to oppose it."

"Huh. Well, we're solid for now, tomorrow's gonna be a bi*BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP*" Courier Six's Pip-Boy was blaring, a transmission coming in from Big Mountain. Six switched the LIMA to speaker mode, so as to keep his group informed in turn, Six was met with a lone eye, the symbol of Dr. Mobius. "Mobius? What's going on? It's almost 8 at night." The good doctor sounded nervous, worried almost.

"I do apologize Courier, but I have some pressing news to inform you of. Someone's looking for Big Mountain."

"What are you talking about? We've already been found by firebrand and his band of well-dressed embers."

"No no no. I mean there is another organization searching for us. An unknown satellite picked up on 8's distorted signals, they're trying to find us...and they were dreafully close yesterday."

"What exactly would they want with us?" Six took a bite out of an MRE bar as his screen lit up with a map of various islands. "Is this where they came from?"

"That's affirmative. This is called the Alola Atoll...or simply the Alola Region to many. This organization, known simply as 'Aether', has its own private VLFS based near an 'Akala Island."

"So what do we do to defend Big Mountain? If they pull off a Team Flare then we don't stand a chance"

"That's the issue, the Think Tank is still working on analyzing this new threat, we know they're as technologically capable as we are...it's possible they might have already learned of our location. I'd be careful Six, scattered radio transmissions indicated they might've been responsible for finding the deathclaw."

"Gotcha Mobius, any word about Lysandre?"

"We've already ruined his plans for world destruction...let's just say Zero is pouring salt into the wound while I speak."

"Don't destroy their base yet. I still have a bone with Lysandre."

"Don't worry, Zero's only causing a nuisance on his part.

* * *

\- Lysandre Labs

* * *

A loud staticy buzzing sound was emitting from the laboratory intercom system, causing many employees to cover their ears in pain. This terrible prank was followed immediately by smooth jazz and a single eye popping up on many of the non-critical monitoring systems. A dramatic booming voice soon cropped in, that of Dr. Zero.

"YOU THOUGHT YOUR SYSTEMS WERE SAFE AND SECURE FROM HARM? WRONG, FOR IT WAS I, ZERO, WHO HACKED INTO IT!"(I wanted to insert a JoJo reference for weeks, come at me.)

* * *

"Well. Is he at least doing a decent job?"

"So far so good..But anyway Courier. I called to inform of the situation at hand. I wish you luck at the conference tomorrow. I'll send you more information as we see fit, Zero managed to finally find their main database." The LIMA shut down, leaving Six exhausted and tired.

"Jesus Christ." Gannon looked away from a window towards Six, his shit-eating grin not disappearing in the slightest.

"Someone call my name?"

"*Sigh* You're a dick Gannon, you know that?"

"Stressed out huh? I would be too if I had to deal with two factions bent on taking Big Mountain for their own personal interests."

"Thanks..that really helps." Six put a hand to his face, the other petting William behind his ears. "What am I gonna do Gannon? I'm starting to think that we might've gone too far into the hole."

"Heh, you might be right...but if we're going down, we're going down in style, right?" Ulysses appeared in his usual way; by scaring the shit out of the Courier and Gannon. The Legionnaire patted the head of Roxie, who only purred in contentment, he spoke to Six whilst pointing a finger upwards.

"I feel it's the best time to form a plan for tomorrow. I've a sense that things won't go as well as we would hope." Six stood up to gather the Remnants, holed up in their little hidey-hole in the security room.

"Ulysses is right, we need to get something together, even if it half-assed."

* * *

\- Several moments later

* * *

The Remnants and Six's group were now on the top floor. The resident Dragonite just now waking up after spending several days laying about. Six spoke first, the map of Kalos flat atop a crate.

"Alright, we've gotta work fast if we want to make a plan. Ulysses, think you and Gannon can cover the front?" Both of the men shrugged, nodding soon after. "Great, I want Orion and Johnson to cover from Daisy's Verti as door gunners after we know what's what. I figured one of the old flare guns you guys stock in these things would work well enough as a signal when we need you." The less-spoken of the group, one Doc Henry.

"Sorry to interrupt you Courier, but you mentioned some time ago about some sort of living weapon that even you couldn't handle. What can we do about that?"

"Well. I'd suppose a full group of us might knock it down a notch. If that doesn't work than we might as well drop the Verti and her weapons on it if all goes to hell."

"Well, we've got better prospects of surviving here than we did back at Navarro at least."

"Huh? I'm not following." Judah interjected at Six this time, his arms folded.

"Gah, we'll tell ya after we're done here. Let's move on to what Henry and I are doing."

"Right. Judah and Henry. I would think it would be best if you two buzzed the interior of the tournament location...apparently it's some sort of arena covered by benches, the idea isn't unlike that of a football stadium."

"What are our rules?"

"Shoot to injure. I know it sounds crazy coming from me, but we're here to keep as many people alive as possible, that sadly has to include the baddies." The entire group agreed. A voice suddenly cut through the air, asking the question everybody had on their minds.

"What happens if any of your team doesn't survive?" This was Xerneas, who had appeared out of thin air just inside the doorway. Six didn't like the thought of losing anymore people than he already had, but casualties were unfortunately to be expected.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, for now let's just rest and prepare for the big day tomorrow." As the group scattered to head downstairs, Six stayed, walking towards the deer-like entity. "You coming along? We could use an extra hand-err hoof." Xerneas only chuckled, observing the Couriers group of pokemon; William and Roxie munching on a small creme puff given by Gannon whilst the Espurr silently clung to Six's left shoulder.

"I can assist as much as I can. I must apologize for not appearing yesterday, some...pressing matters cropped up across the void. I heard what had happened though, and all I can say is that you did the best you could."

"I'm just happy more people weren't injured. it worries me though, Ulysses has never been knocked out cold before. Someone really wants that egg."

"Indeed, and it must be protected for that very reason."

"Protected? It needs to die as soon as it hatches. Gannon thinks the thing can be trained to help out though, but it'll be a few days too late for that unfortunately."

"Well...it can help in your future endeavors." Six took a seat while rubbing the head of the Espurr, of which was currently purring in contentment.

"Hah. My future endeavors? I'm not planning on doing anything else after this."

"Pray tell, my dear human. Why not?"

"It's like this; I'm a man in his forties who got shot in the head and miraculously survived. That incident set about a chain of events that changed the Mojave forever. I got more than enough adventure in my life, hell I'd been a courier for over twenty years. I think it's time I started branching out towards a more...peaceful occupation."

"I'd have to wonder what kind of peaceful occupation would include a knights suit of armor and a kingdoms arsenal as 'tools of the trade'."

"Hehehe. I've always wanted to learn about cooking, various books of the wasteland always talked about pies, burgers and salads as if they were the most amazing things in the world."

"A warrior with a soft spot for food...you are an odd one Mr. Courier."

"Please, call me Six." The Courier looked towards a skylight on the ceiling, revealing a bright mass of stars that looked so close that you could possibly grab them. "I'm just wondering what everybody else is going to do after this entire mess is cleaned up."

"I wonder the same. I know your compatriots at the base of the Pomace Mountains are ecstatic about this new world they're in."

"Yeah, but what about the Remnants? What about Ulysses or Gannon? I know Gannon has some sort of deal going on with a Professor Sick-and-more or something, but Ulysses? Hell I'm imagining that he'll build a house atop the mountain as the Guardian of Kalos." Xerneas thought for a moment, laughing quietly seconds later

"You worry too much Courier Six, let the tides of time go at their own pace."

"I suppose so. I'm gonna head to bed." Six hollered to William and Roxie. "C'mon you two, it's about time to get some sleep." With the Courier and his pokemon heading downstairs, Xerneas turned to the Dragonite, once again sleeping in the Vertibird.

"Oh Arceus, I'm glad the humans haven't murdured each other yet. I just hope too much blood isn't shed tomorrow." With the words spoken to nobody in particular, Xerneas shed off into the darkness, unaware of a certain Quilladin that had stayed behind to eavesdrop on the deer deity. William, however, decided to head back downstairs at the call of his name, keeping Xerneas' words to himself.


	35. Aqualung

Night had come, and with it came the soft sounds of those asleep, both man and pokemon; as we delve deeper into the room inhabited by the Remnants, we notice a certain...courier stirring about in his bunk; his expression one of haunting pain. Just what occured in this man's psyche? A brief moment passed before the heavily bearded man awoke in a fit of sweat and panic, nightmares of long ago coming back to haunt him; even more haunting was the voice talking to him from some distance away.

" _Ah, Guardian. Having night terrors are we?_ " The Courier brushed off the petty remark, looking at the sky, the sun just now starting to rise.

" _Yeah yeah, what do you want ya friggin deer?_ " The former messenger started to suit up, awakening his compatriots and causing a certain cazador to roll off the bunk she was on.

" _Observing the city, also, I've something interesting to inform you of._ "

" _Oh really? What's going on?_ " Six's arms were crossed, annoyed at the sarcastic tone of the

" _Simple, your egg is being moved. I'd sug_ -"

"Why the hell didn't you say so?!" Six yelled aloud as he banged on the metal wall with his equally metal glove, waking everyone in the tower. Orion offered his piece, annoyed as usual.

"What are you doing son? We've got three more hours before we move into position."

"We've got an egg-napper on the loose, gather your rifles and cover all exits!" This was enough to stir the Remnants into action. Six moved towards the downstairs lobby, immediately coming face to face with the assailant. "Gotcha now you sunuva-"

"Waaaaah!" It was a feminine voice, actually it was Ash's psuedo-girlfriend who just wants senpai to notice her.

"Good god Serena...it is Serena right?" The girl nodded timidly. "What the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night? I thought you were with Ash and his band of merry men."

"I was, but Ash was busy preparing for the tournament. He wanted me to come here to remind you about today...He's really pushing himself. " Six set his machine gun down, holding it by the barrel.

"So the kid's worried about those morons? Y'all don't have to worry about a thing, it's all golden now that we're on the march." Serena just sweatdropped, timidly speaking up.

"Actually, he's concentrating more on the tournament, Ash isn't worried as much as I am...what if people get hurt?"

"Then we just destroy the bad guys in a fiery inferno of death and destruction...y'know, the wasteland way...Now then." Six pointed towards the egg in Serena's arms. "Watcha doing with that egg kiddo? And where's Gannon and Ulysses?" The courier was right, the two men hadn't been seen since he had gone to bed. Serena noticed something off about the egg.

"It feels sort of light." It was then that Six knew something was off.

"It shouldn't be..the damned things weigh around twenty-five pounds...give me that." Serena complied, handing Six the egg. The courier aimed towards a wall, preparing to throw the egg.

"What are you doing?!" Serena probably yelled loud enough to wake the entire tower and its denizens.

"Simple, I'm going to see if this is what I think it is." The courier threw the egg with enough force to smash a 2x4 in half.

*Thump*

The egg bounced harmlessly off of the wall, when instead it should've smashed into tiny pieces. Six walked upstairs, ready to alert the Remnants, until he heard that familiar annoying voice in his head.

" _The perpetrators are sneaking away in one of the vents above you. I would suggest waiting for them outside, the vents all convene into one single ejection point."_ Six was confused, stopping midway in his climp, much to the confusion of present company of course.

" _And you're telling me this why?"_ Xerneas only laughed at the courier, much to his patience and temper.

 _"Why it's simple, this...group, if you dare to call it that, seems to have an eye for tracking your wanderings...It seems that they might have been the same ones who took your...opponent and knocked out your compatriot in the process."_ Six stopped dead in his tracks as he processed the information handed to him.

 _"So let me get this straight."_ Six now stepped outside, a quilladin and cazador by his side, the espurr nowhere to be seen. " _You've been watching us bust our asses all this time, and you don't do anything about it?"_

 _"I can only provide indirect assistance."_

 _"What about that crazy demon dog thing from several days ago?"_

 _"I was granted special permission from my superior to assist you."_

 _"Your superior? Who the actual hell is your superior?"_

 _"Our divine creator and protector, Arceus."_

 _"Oh really? So tell me this, where is your god now?_

* * *

 _-_ Somewhere in a vent

* * *

We see two people crawling in a metallic tunnel, a vent if you will. Geared in no such way for this kind of mission, these two figures, grunts mind you, are in the process of claiming a one-of-a-kind anomaly. We notice one begin to speak, a male whispering to a female in front of him.

"Thank Arceus we managed to get out of there alive! That big guy doesn't seem like the friendly type." The female responded chidedly, almost too brisk for one's senses.

"You don't say. He'd rip us apart if anything...did you see how he killed that monster?" Both of the figures were almost towards the end of the ventworks, until...

*Scratch scratch*

The male responded in a confused fashion, feeling something brush up against his leg.

"Stop touching my leg."

"What're you talking about? I'm in front of you, you moron."

"Then what's scratching my-OW!"

The female turned on a flashlight, revealing an espurr staring into the eyes of her male co-worker, who screamed so loudly even Six could hear it. The female kicked her co-worker in the head, promptly shutting him up.

"Will you stop being a wimp?! They probably figured out where we are by no-WHOA!"

*CLANG*

The vent gave way somehow, revealing the location of the two, now some thirty feet in the air above a battlefield. In one of the bleachers sat Judah Kreger and Cannibal Johnson, surprised at the instantaneous motion taking place. Judah aimed his rifle at the vent before talking to Johnson.

"Did the kid say to take 'em alive, or no?" Johnson armed his minigun, the barrels spinning faster by the millisecond.

"Don't matter to me, let's just bring that vent down." Judah relayed the positions of himself and Johnson to the rest of the team. Almost immediately Johnson was nearly struck by a lightning bolt, the male in the vent above gave an order to a set of three flying magnets seemingly glued together.

"Magneton, discharge on those two!"

The pokemon known as Magneton complied, electrocuting Johnson but to no effect, immediately afterwards a certain courier arrived, with some sort of grenade launcher in tow. Judah questioned the weapon of possible destruction.

"What are you tryna do kid, bring the building down with us?" Six only laughed, cocking a grenade into the chamber.

"I'm bringing down that vent. Johnson! Help me bring down those supports."

"Aye aye kiddo."

*CREEEEEEAK* *GROOOOOAN*

"The hell was that? Johnson, Kreger?" Judah only shrugged.

"Wasn't us, must've been the ve-"

*CRASH*

The vent system came down before any explosive hit it, along with the supposed egg-nappers and Six's Espurr. The courier walked towards the wreckage, sledge in hand along with a very annoyed expression. With the dust settling, all eyes were on the courier and the poor sod he had slammed to the wall, the female egg-napper stood horrified at the outcome of their operation. How did the vent come down in the first place?

Looking down, she knew immediately why.

"Purr?" The woman was confused, followed by an emotional backlash of fury, immediately she took out a pokeball, revealing a ladybug-esque creature.

"Ledyba, take down that espurr! Magneton, help me get your trainer out of that guy's grip."

While Ledyba was distracting espurr, Six gave the order to toss some sort of large object at the group, what he wasn't expecting was a bench that almost hit him.

*Crash*

The bench missed the courier by mere inches, as well as the surprised ledyba and its trainer. The magneton wasn't so lucky, being hit by the bench in full force caused it to instantly faint. The male egg-napper began to panic, fear rising in his voice.

"That's it man, game over, game ov-*THWACK" The female started to bicker at her teammate, obviously distressed were they both.

"If you hadn't screamed after seeing that espurr then we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"I hate cats! That's why mom always kept her Meowth away from my room."

"Your fear of cats pretty much screwed us over! Good luck getting promoted."

"It's not my fault that you kicked my face, maybe if you didn't move around so much we could've-"

As the two continued their argument, Six saw the egg he was looking for, laying at the feet of the two unknown henchmen. The courier groaned in annoyance, too easy he thought. Thus, he waltzed up to the two, still bickering on about their petty issues. This needed to stop, and who better to stop it than Six himself?

"Will you two just get married already? You already argue like you've been together for years."

"Stay out of this will ya?!"

"Yeah! What Big foot said!."

"Oy vey...look, either I beat your asses to a pulp while you argue, or you can just argue after you leave. I'll forget you were ever he-"

"What do you mean Big Foot? You saying I have giant feet?!" Six was tired of the two arguing...so much so that he actually yelled in anger for one of the few times in his life.

"BOTH OF YOU, SHUT THE HELL UP!" The two complied immediately. "Great...now get the hell out of the tower, leave the egg. Never come ba-"

In came Clemont, shocked and confused as ever.

"I heard there was a problem in the tower. is everything o...kay..What happened to my ventilation system?!"

* * *

\- Meanwhile, at Big Mountain

* * *

"Success!" A male voice cried in the Think Tank."I've managed to hack into their systems and found their main lab." A female voice, that of Dr. Dala, rang in the metal chamber.

"Zero, who is _they_? Might I ask."

"Why it's simple, they're the one and only Team Flare. You know, the lobotomites who tried to take over our complex." Klein chimed in, eager to hear of the good news.

"WONDERFUL WORK! NOW WE CAN WORK ON A COUNTERASSAULT...ERM...WITH MOBIUS' PERMISSION OF COURSE." Zero, nonetheless, decided that work would have to progress anyway. It wasn't everyday that a superevil organization opened its doors by pure complacency.

"Interesting...I suspect that their security is not as good as I initially thought." Zero floated by a computer screen, on it a menagerie of numbers and letters. The security coding very similar to Earth's once-famous Terminal Protection Program, eerily so that, in fact, it only took Zero around a minute to access their main database. The results on screen mortifying him.

"My god. Contact Mobius, we've got something more serious than we first Expected."

* * *

-Back at the Prism Tower

* * *

Six had the two idiots tied up, both of them still bickering at each other while their pokemon went under the care of Clemont and Serena. The Courier didn't understand this at all, who would go out of their way to capture a deathclaw egg? And for what reason? Six was tired of it..and it was almost daybrea-no it already was daybreak! Six just groaned in annoyance and agony.

"One good night's rest is all I asked for. I end up getting two foolish egg-nappers and a panicking gym leader." Cannibal Johnson walked up to the courier, equally tired.

"Well..it could've been worse, they could've actually cracked the egg."

"I wish they did, that's what we were planning wasn't it?"

"I'm not sure kiddo. It would be a good idea to try and train that thing to be on our side." Six would've spit all of his metaphorical nuka-cola across the floor if it wasn't for the immediate double take he gave Johnson.

"Ha...hahaha...You can't be serious...are you serious?"

"Hell yeah Six, even Kreger thinks it would be a good idea. Give it to those labcoats over at Big Mountain and maybe you could train it to fight..like your little roly-poly over there and that freaky cazador."

Six pondered the thought, giving it some time to settle in his head. For now though, more important matters would come about.

"Alright guys, let's cluster up in the penthouse, we've got a job to perform. Gather Ulysses and Gannon, tell em to meet Doc Henry at the entrance." Orion dropped in, aware of the two...visitors from earlier, both of them still arguing.

"What do we do with the loudmouthes?"

"Knock them out and toss them in some alleyway, I'd figure they're from the same organization that got the dead deathclaw, tell Daisy to fire the Verti up, but don't take off until we know what we're up against."

* * *

-Later that morning

* * *

In Lysandre labs, the order had been given to infiltrate the Lumious Conference. Lysandre himself personally overseeing the operation to ensure that failure would not be an option.

For too many things had already gone terribly wrong, but time would heal those wounds, as it would improve his chances at successful domination. A grunt wandered up to the Team Flare leader, tablet in hand.

"Sir, your shuttle leaves in half an hour, do you require anything aside from your standard requirements?"

"Hmmm...yes, install the Z2 enclosure in my shuttle. When should we arrive at the Conference?"

"Around...twelve o'clock in the afternoon sir."

"Just in time for lunch. You're dismissed grunt."

* * *

-At the conference

* * *

We see three of our favorite morons setting up camera's in anticipation for the upcoming competition, it appears that they did indeed get the jobs as cameramen, granting them access to sidelines as close as possible.

They couldn't shake the feeling that something could possibly go terribly wrong though, a feeling of dread that they knew was more than just superstition at work.

Something big was going to happen in the hours to come, and they felt that a certain power-armored soldier would come into play somehow.

* * *

 _AN - Good god I'm sorry I haven't gotten anything up in a month. I've had to be in surgery for the past three weeks due to a heart attack just after New Years. Anyway. I made a double post for you all, but I feel like they're lacking in luster and quality compared to my other chapters._

 _The end is coming up ladies and gentlemen, and it's been a hell of a journey wouldn't you say?_

 _Signed and noted; Lo and Behold_


	36. Funk 50

_Each of us is carving a stone, erecting a column, or cutting a piece of stained glass in the construction of something much bigger than ourselves."_

 ***Adrienne Clarkson  
** *"unrelated to our king and savior Jeremy Clarkson"

The day had been set for the upcoming tournament as shining jewel of Kalos became cluttered with trainers from lands far and wide. Between Ash Ketchum and the rest of his friends however, everything had pointed to their success, Ash couldn't help but smile proudly at their accomplishments together, his head slighted towards the rear, where his closest Kalosian friends plus the Courier, out and about outside of his power armor oddly enough, stood.

"This is it guys. I've got a good feeling about this one." Six was perplexed, both by the size of the various crowds of people and by Ash's statement.

"This one? You mean this isn't your first tournament?"

Ash gave out a laugh as his best friend, Pikachu, jumped atop his shoulder. "Nope! We've been travelling across the world non-stop for almost...three years I think."

"Jesus kid, three years without a break?"

"Well…I have stopped several times to visit Mom, speaking of which. I wonder how she's doing?"

"So what region are you from then if you aren't a native?"

"I'm Kanto! Born and raised."

"Kanto? _I've heard that word somewhere before…but where?"_ Six shook off the assumption, something strange was going on, but the power-armored warrior had no time to dwell on it, the tournament was in several hours and he needed to get into position.

With a quick whistle and finger signals, the Courier and several of the Enclavers moved towards an alley close to the stadium, a ladder allowing them to get into position. Kreger spoke up first. His attire consisting of the standard uniform of an Enclave Officer minus the hat.

"You aren't wearing the suit, the ladder would support the thing wouldn't it?" Six shook his head, soon speaking in a quiet, yet gruff tone.

"Too many people around, if they saw me in that thing, then they'd know something was going on. I left it with the Vertibird, that way, if anything does go down, then I'd get suited up and ready to fight."

"Meh, it's your gear. I'm not telling you how to prep up."

* * *

Somewhere in the premises of Big Mountain; Mobius and his team of eccentric scientists were hard at work to combat the threat manifested by Team Flare. In a darkened room inside Mobius' Dome, we see the good doctor discussing the eventuality of going on the offensive.

"It's quite probable that this Team Flare might have more than we bargained for." Mobius pulled up a slide viewed from an overhanging computer monitor. "If anything more comes to light, then we may have to take up arms ourselves!" It was here that Dala interjected, fearful of the outcome.

"Mobius. I fear we may have a problem there, we're trained scientists, not footsoldiers."

"Ah, very observant Dala. That's why I've come up with an indirect way of assisting the courier." Mobius pulled up another slide, showing several Team Flare satellites in orbit. "Team Flare uses these satellites as communications relays, if we can destroy them with our ICBM reserves, then the forces based in 'Lumiose City' would be isolated from their primary reinforcements." Dr. Zero chimed in, chipper as always.

"I've got the Courier tracked by our own hijacked satellite, if he's ever in a jam, then we can use our space gun to fire some robo-scorpions to his location." Everyone seemed in high hopes, that was, until Dr. Klein had to burst the bubble.

"Wait….we don't have a space gun though." Mobius hadn't thought of that. "In fact, we haven't had one since Zero smashed my Lego mock-up several centuries ago."

"Well maybe if you didn't leave the spare pieces lying about for people to step on, then it wouldn't have gotten destroyed."

"They didn't match with the rest of the colors, they were expendable…not like my Lego Space Gun mock-up"

"Oh booooy, this story again, they're Mega Blocks, we didn't have the budget for Lego's." Mobius popped in, sounding rather beaten down.

"It appears we also don't have any more of our missiles either...I can bet that those confounded fools at Military Command ordered their transition to the East Coast at the last minute." Zero let out a sigh...at least a fictitious sigh,

"Guess we'll need to figure out a different...wait a minute, waitaminute wait a minute! We still have the hexagonal spires!"

Zero was correct, for just west of the blue dome stood countless...spires. These weren't standard spires though, they were hexagonal, able to be moved via some form of zero-gravity tech and were about as tall as the Lucky 38 itself.

Extremely classified stuff, even the cut ending from Old World Blues doesn't explain it.

* * *

In another perspective, we see Meowth fiddling with what appears to be a camera mounted atop a wheeled carriage. His teammate, James, keeping an eye out for both Team Flare and the powered-armored beast of nightmares.

With Jesse there was another story, trying to gather information about the Courier turned up nothing; any information on his compatriots followed a similar pattern, zilch. Of course Jesse figured Six was a whole other ball league, the Vertibird and illegal amounts of explosive weaponry proved that point right off the bat. Just as soon as Jesse had finished her thoughts, she felt a nudge at her thigh, it was Meowth of all peopl-erm pokemon.

"What is it Meowth? I'm busy..." Jesse huffed, looking at her work at trying to blend in as aprt of a camera crew. "I already managed to get a false pilots license...JAMES! You're taking the cockpit controls." All that was heard was a small voice from some distance away. "Now what is it Meowth?"

"Well Jes, I've been tinking, y'know how dat crazy nutjob and his friends seem to pop up wit da twerp? Well what happens if they're part of the tournament?!"

"I figured that one out...our disguises earlier weren't as effective; now however? We're hard to tell apart from a standard camera crew."

"I hope so...He sure didn't have any qualms about trying to turn us into magikarp-kebabs."

"Just stay calm, if we see him or any of his...compatriots, then we try to act as normal as possible." Meowth held his paw to his chin for a moment, deep in thought.

"How do we act normal?"

"Simple, by hiding our faces behind the cameras and clipboards."

"Dat's your idea of acting normal?! We'd stick out like Machamps at a weightlifting competition!" Jesse groaned at this, she didn't really have any alternatives to disguise herself any more than she already had. Almost immediately, James spoke up in a hushed tone.

"I've got to agree with Meowth, it's quite possible that the Courier might see through our disguise, only this time he might not be as merciful." James immediately shuddered at the outcome, should Courier Six waltz through the door and ground them into dust. The thought only terrified the poor Rocket even more, but James couldn't fathom the thought much longer, for the Conference was about to begin.

* * *

An hour had passed, with Six and Kreger on the roof of a nearby building that conveniently had a clear view of the Conference Arena...This also meant it was mildly tall, an immediate turn-off for The Courier.

"Ugh...Couldn't we have gone another way? Like sitting at the bleachers?" Kreger chuckled at this and gave his thoughts without a hitch.

"Hey, it was your idea to watch the battle from outside, besides, when have you been afraid of heights?"

"I never look down from the Lucky 38 for a reason Judah, Christ almighty I think I'm gonna be sick..."

"Well don't throw up near me. I just got this thing ironed for the first time in 30 something years."

"Yeah yeah. I'll be sure not to hurl near your priceless uniform."

Judah held a carbine by the handle, Six spinning the cylinder of his favored police revolver. Both men were bored out of their wits, faintly hearing the cheers as some large orange dragon went into battle with a similar black-hued dragon.

"Hey Judah, what's the process of the conference?"

"Well lesee here." Judah pulled out a pamphlet from a pocket. "Says here that there's a limit of Six on a team, therefore a full team would be strongly recommended before even applying."

"Six eh? Well I guess I'm not getting into that.."

"Speaking of, where's the giant Armadillo looking thing?"

"Giant wha- oh, you mean that...Dragonite? He's back at the tower with the Verti crew. Big guy's taking it easy for now in case we have problems down the road."

"Problems? What could we possibly run int-"

"I noticed Lysandre and an entourage coming here, think he noticed me as well."

(Flashback to several hours prior)

We see the group gathering at the entrance to the Lumiose Arena, with Six pointing to several tall structures in the distance while Johnson munches on a sandwich made in the tower. Six notices a brush of fire red hair in the crowd, along with several sharply dressed men and women, the man in the center glares at Six before a slight smirk emerged on his face.

Almost immediately Six wanted to attack when he was most vulnerable, but he couldn't risk losing cover and causing immense distress to the children.

 _Why the hell am I processing this of all things? Children back home would kill to see a Super Sledge in action against super mutants...no, this isn't The Mojave._

Six took his grasp off the holster immediately. Lysandre would get his due another time in another place.

(Flashback over)

"Lysandre's planning something Kreger, not sure what, but he's got something cooking, and I don't like the smell of it. Who's won so far?

"Well kid, someone named Alain won against a kid named Trevor in a Charizard versus Charizard matchup. It's Ash against some girl named Astrid." Six grabbed a pair of binoculars hanging from Judahs neck, strangling Kreger in the process.

"What is with that weird wolf-looking thi-Shit!" Six let of the binoculars, allowing Judah to breathe much more easily. "Sorry about that Kreger."

"I've gotta get a pair of these that you can holster or put in your pocket, anyway. You've got a point, it looks weird. Then again, you've met a talking cat haven't you?"

"Touche Kreger, touche...wonder how Gannon and Ulysses are handling the crowd?"

Gannon stood amongst the crowd whilst Ulysses claimed a bench seat as his own. Flabebe floating above Gannon's head while Audino conversed with a nearby Lillipup. Gannon was intrigued by the large amount of pokemon, even Ulysses Onix was able to find space on the lower floor, Gannon watched the battle in the arena take place suddenly, with Ash's Howlucha against Astrid's Absol.

Almost immediately Astrid had taken to the offense. being defeated by Howlucha with a move called 'flying press', an attack that proved to be the comeuppance of Astrid, removing her from the conference almost immediatly.

Gannon leaned in towards Ulysses, who was pondering on the results.

"Hey Ulysses, some match huh"

"No. The girl, she took an uncalculated risk, too little of a reward. The boy isn't much better either."

"What do you mean? He won didn't he?"

"Ash won with a sledgehammer where instead he should've won with a scalpel. The bird is too slow, luck was on his side."

"I suppose so...Oh right I got my payment from Sycamore earlier, going to grab a bite, need anything?"

"Nothing for me, save for some water."

"Sure thing, any eyes on our guys from The Remnants?" Ulysses scanned the arena, his eyes pertaining on two certain levels. The Enclaves old-timers sat across the other side of the arena, noticing Ulysses as well.

There were also the Rockets on a higher level, dressed as a bumbling camera crew.

"Found them...And I also just found the fools."

"You can't be serious." Gannon put his hand on his face in an act of annoyance. "They never learn do they?"

"Apparently not, I'll keep watch on em, they aren't here for us I suppose, an Aureus says they want a shot at Flare as well."

"Alright, your word's on it. I'll get that water if you still want it." Ulysses nodded, todays events were going to be an interesting development.

Several hours had passed with Six and Kreger dozing off. Either due to the warm climate or the boredom of surveillance, either way, Roxie and William were getting impatient.

"I'm soooooo bored. When can we go down?" Said William in his whiniest voice. Roxie retorted immediately, grabbing a can of beans from Six's pack with her stinger.

"Soon kiddo." _Sounds of can being opened_ "Very soon. Maybe that stupid deer will lend a hand for once."

Several moments of awkward silence passed before William tried picking at the ice.

"So...you used to be something else?"

"That's right. I was a dog at one point, then Big Mountain decided 'let's make dogadores'...Yeah that worked real well."

"What?"

"Something they didn't tell the courier, lest he kill them with their own eye monitors, was that roughly five of us made it through that process...out of around 50 dogs. They may have changed, but they've still got their lack of morals."

"Experimentation? That sounds awful."

"Awful is too lenient, terrible seems a better word."

"They aren't going to do anything here are they?"

"Kid, they may be heartless brains, but they aren't stupid. They don't dare test their limits here. I think I overheard one of them say this world was 'as pristine as pristine could be'. Why would we bother saving it?"

"Right...good point. I wond-oooh look! Ash is getting ready to battle Alain!"

"Who?"

"You know. Alain, he has this mega-stone that lets him mega-evolve his Charizard to be super powerful." William started making fire sounds and swooshing noises. These ended up waking Six, who ended patting the Quilladin on the head.

"Calm'er down kiddo, you keep acting like that and you might just blow our cover." Almost immediately all eyes went to the dome below them, Ash against Alain.

The battle itself was spectacular; what with both groups using a powerful pokemon against one another. Ash, however, had put all his chips on the table. Alain managed a hard fought victory against Ash and his Greninja, much to the dismay of Six and the other companions, each one offering their own opinion on the situation.

"C'mon! There's no way you could win against that, thing's gotta be rigged."

"Five caps says the kid would've won against the black and blue lizard on an even playing field." Six had his own opinion on the sight.

"That just sucks."

It was official, Alain had claimed first place in the Lumiose Conference, all seemed well as Ash and Alain shook hands. What was the worst that could go wrong?

Green lights sparkled across the sky in an instant; causing the Courier and Kreger to stare in surprise.

They'd been tricked. Six called to the Vertibird as the lights diminished. The rest of the group got out of the main plaza as they stared incredulously at the sky, not believing that Lysandre could've tricked them so easily.

Instantly, large red tentacles sprouted out of the ground, encompassing the city in growth. Ulysses spoke first; slightly shocked at the sight around him.

"This is what I saw, this is what could bring the Mojave to its knees." Gannon spoke next, raising his Plasma defender as Johnson fired at the growth.

"I imagined it being less damaging, but yeah, this goes on the list of things the Mojave needs to avoid."

* * *

Elsewhere, the Vertibird prepped itself for takeoff, the resident Dragonite flying alongside it as the chopper dodged a tentacle sprouting onto a nearby building. Six was busy as well, attacking a tentacle with his sledgehammer, looking up towards the Prism Tower, Six saw something that made life more complicated.

"The fuck is that thing?"

A large creature emerged aloft a tower edge, massive in size and reminiscent of a large snake, this thing had to have been the cause of the growths.

Six also noticed one other detail.

"That's Lysandre; right next to that...worm...thing!" Kreger took out his binoculars, confirming Six's suspicions.

"You're right, but how do we get to him?"

"We need the Verti, get it over here no-"

*BOOOOM*

The Vertibird fired a missile the creature, hitting it but causing negligible damage. In response, the beast launched a tendril at the bird, damaging the left rotor. Six went silent for a moment, then let his anger be known.

"No...FUCKING HELL! We were this close! Now we've got nothing."

"We can still get up there, we just gotta be careful where we walk." Both men clambered down the ladder, moving towards the wreckage of the Vertibird. It wasn't pretty.

The heli had suffered irreparable damage as a result of the impact. Daisy managed to get out and was staring up towards the monstrosity responsible for destroying her baby. Ash and company arrived in time to see Daisy shouting out expletive phrases at the Zygarde on the tower. Six greeted Ash as soon as he noticed him.

"We've got no bird kid, that means no way of getting up...there." Ash responded as Serena and Pikachu looked on in worry.

"There's always gotta be a plan b, you had one didn't you?"

"Plan b involved the Verti too, without this thing then we're just geese in the pond..."

* * *

Lysandre's plan for Lumiose came to fruition, while Zygarde went about his plan on claiming the city, he disected his next plan for all of Kalos.

The world would be his in mere weeks at this rate, and not a single soul would be able to stop him.

 **A/N- I'm back from the dead. Not really but still. I've been busy as hell lately, got a newborn to take care of now.**

 **That only translates to less time for myself and for all you lovely viewers out there.**

 **On a side note from a reviewer. I went ahead got a Brazilian Gecko, named him Jesús just for that reason. Thank you Sir Pearson for your service.**


	37. A Quick Foreword

A Quick Foreword

Ladies and gentlemen; it is I, Lo and Behold.

Despite being away for well over a year. I'm pleased to announce that I'm back on track with Old World Blues Mk. II: Electric Boogaloo.

Furthermore! I've been in the process of cooking up another story; another epic filled with enough gunpowder and explosives to match Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture…perhaps not that much but it will be close.

The next chapter should be up within the coming week. I apologize to you all who have been stuck on my cliffhanger but mark my words, this cliff ain't gonna be as steep as before.

Signed and terribly overdue; Lo and Behold


	38. Days Are Short

The clamber to the top of the tower where Lysandre stood would have been an unbearable trek were it not for the suppressive fire of the Enclave Remnants; laying down automatic fire from the cover of the downed Vertibird whilst Six and Ash scrambled amidst the rubble of several buildings with their respective poke-partners.

Reaching a ledge of the tower that Lysandre proudly leaned on, Six pulled out his revolver to the surprise of Ash and their allies on the ground save for the wastelanders.

"So, any ideas on how we face Lysandre?" Six interjected, pulling out his classic revolver to check the ammunition in the chamber. "I figure a good round to the chest should take him down...Though I think I've got better ideas."

"Why does it have to come to that?" Ash glumly answered and Pikachu copied his emotional state. "Why do we have to kill him for?" It was at this point that the courier was stupefied by Ash's naivety as he gently grasped Ash's shoulders and stared him dead in the eyes with a serious look.

"Kid, if we don't stop Caesar here, who knows where and what he'll conquer next." Six was right, in his mind anyway; Lysandre reminded him all too well of a certain Legionnaire who wanted everything west of the Colorado under his banner. With a small, albeit uncertain, nod of his head, Ash meandered amongst the rubble just trailing behind Six…wait, Caesar?

"Who's Caesar?"

Courier Six froze dead in his tracks as he looked to Ash, he had really just spoke the name of the one man he could dare call 'Evil Reincarnate'.

"I'll… _christ…_ I'll tell you later, let's finish this and then you're free to ask anything you want, for now. I have a much plan to put in motion with you, there's a side door on the Prism Tower, if I can get in there then-"

Ash listened intently as they finally crossed onto the Prism Tower from the caved-in roof of an apartment building. As Lysandre stood triumphantly as his creation did its work before turning to face the two heroes with an utter scowl upon his face.

"You really are a pain, do you know that? But it can't be helped, because I'm going to crush you like newborn Weedle…Zygarde, kindly finish the fool who tried to fight us when we first met."

As Six pulled his sidearm to fire, his mid-sized teammate joined along as he fired hundreds of tiny darts at a sentient root, disposing of it immediately whilst Pikachu and Ash fought alongside Ash's Greninja.

" **GAHHHH!** You confounded, glorified Venomoth! Get off of me." Lysandre had been stung by Roxie as she stabbed at him every chance she took; her attacks seemed somewhat effective until she had been hit by one of Zygarde's roots, slamming her into Ash with a heavy thud.

"Ash, Roxie! You two okay?" Six fired several rounds at Lysandre, with Zygarde acting as a buffer through some unknown means. Ash and Roxie acknowledged Six as they continued their assault. Meanwhile, Six managed to sneak to the side door, opening to a flight of stairs that had started roughly halfway through the towers interior. As Six entered the darkened staff room/makeshift barracks, he found what he was looking for; his power armor and necessary firepower for the task at hand.

* * *

Lysandre stood his ground fairly well battling Ash and his pokemon; dealing blow after blow with the beast form Zygarde under his control. From the other side of a nearby wall came heavy thuds and cracks forming on the plaster exterior of the tower that forced both Ash and Lysandre to pause for several seconds and search for the noises.

 **CRUNCHHHHH**

Down came the wall and out came our heavily-armored knight in shining power armor, with machine gun in tow and his companion Quilladin on his shoulder. Lysandre immediately interjected in a panic.

"You fool! Do you not know how badly this ledge is damaged? You'll kill us all!"

Lysandre was right for once, as Six looked downwards he could see bits of the structure falling to the streets several stories below; holes of varying sizes mixed with missing chunks of architecture, creating an immediate hazard for two humans and a power-armored behemoth.

"Fu-"

* * *

Almost as soon as Six uttered a word, the ledge came down in pieces and with them came Ash and Lysandre trying to grasp tightly to something whilst Six fell like a cement block into the ocean.

Were it not for Ash's quick thinking with his Greninja's amazing parkour skills, he and the other pokemon would've been plastered across the streetside, unfortunately the same could be said for Lysandre; who had managed to have been saved by one of the many Zygarde roots springing from the soil.

Six was nowhere to be seen, but grunts of pain could be heard from a pile of rubble nearby; as Ash hurriedly tore the chunks away, Six's helmet and armor were more noticeable.

Six's armor had been battered by the hard fall but that wasn't all; amidst the rubble, Ash could clearly see red liquid pouring from Six's right leg, a piece of rebar partially sticking out; it was painful to even move but Six managed to stand despite the immense pain. Ash looked worriedly as he noticed Lysandre regaining his bearings from the ungraceful act.

"Six, are you okay? We can get the others if we-"

"No need Lash! We heard the fall from several blocks away." Looking to his back, Ash saw Gannon arrive via climbing a pile of concrete with Ulysses following close behind. Rumbling earth could faintly be felt as a massive Onix slammed into a root that quickly shriveled up.

Hope raised in the boy's heart as Six managed to grab his trademark super sledge and toss Lysandre several feet back with a heavy-handed swing. Six and his team of wastelanders eventually gathered around Lysandre as they began their plans for retribution.

Almost immediately arrived a Jenny and her Arcanine; handcuffs and Miranda Rights in tow, this proved quite the distraction as a small standoff ensued between traditional and wasteland justice, providing Lysandre the perfect opportunity for a rear-line assault.

With a snap of Lysandre's voice came multiple roots from the grounds, destroying Jenny's police vehicle and knocking the team to the ground in an unearthly tremor. Six stood defiant as he charged towards the would-be dictator with a fervor that matched that of Ash, one that was of anger and revenge in lieu of bravery and kindness though.

The world stood still as Six gasped for breath immediately, the air grew heavier as a root pierced his armor and flew right through; leaving a small but noticeable wound in Six's chest. The Courier braced himself as another root prepared to attack…an attack that never came thanks to an unknown beast as tall as he.

"Ches!...NAUGHT!"

The creature used its heavily armored body to defend Six with valor and zest, blocking hit after hit whilst Gannon inserted a syringe into Six's neck while also rushing to take off his helmet.

"It's just Med-X, you're going to be fine Six. We're getting you out of here. Ash! I'm leaving Ulysses and the Remnants with you to take care of our opponent at hand, Six has to get to a safer place."

Ash snapped out of his stupor as the heavily-armored creature managed to hold off the roots long enough for the Remnants to arrive with heavy firepower. A familiar sound slashed through the air as a gatling laser shredded through multiple Zygarde roots. It should be mentioned that a massive Zygarde had formed but was immediately taken out by a friendly copy that had been hiding with Clemont's sister. Thus Lysandre's plans had been for naught. Yet he still fought on...

As Gannon and his personal cadre rushed Six to the nearest medical center, he noticed the giant armored bush-like beast following closely with worried eyes. Could this be another one of Chespin's evolutions? It seemed plausible as the Quilladin variant was nowhere to be seen or heard from since the ledge collapsed.

No matter though, for Six was steadily losing blood despite the Med-X being taken. The nearest medical center of any kind was Sycamore's lab several blocks down. With a grunt; Gannon, Audino, Lilligant and the newly evolved form of Chespin rushed off to the lab with one thing on all their minds spoken by Gannon's tongue.

"You better not die on us Six."

* * *

AN: Ladies and Gentlemen, it's damn good to be back in business. Regular updates are on track and new chapters will arrive bi-weekly at least and every three weeks at most. The next chapter is a teaser of the newest mess I'm working on and provides a general idea of what might be expected.

Signed until this epic is over with; Lo and Behold


	39. Roundabout

The desert sands of The Mojave glimmered under the harsh sun as nary a cloud covered the sky; Six arose from underneath a large bush as he scanned his surroundings, none of his armament were on him nor did he have power armor. On Six's person was his old merc outfit and no weaponry whatsoever.

' _Huh…no pistol, no rifle and no signs of life, this is bad; gotta get out of here."_ Six surveyed his surroundings, not seeming any way familiar despite it clearly being the desert he's come to know every nook and cranny of. _"Wherever HERE is."_

In the distance sat a figure atop a large crest in a canyon; his gaze seemingly demanding the courier to venture towards him. With naught else to do but move towards the unknown figure, Six trudged on; noticing the distinct lack of life in the area along with any visible landmarks.

Climbing the canyon proved a relatively easy task as Six walked up a small path alongside the edge of the sheer rock face. Arrival at the crest of the cliff brought Six to a somewhat familiar face.

"Caesar?! How…wha-?"

" _ **Silence yourself you fool, for you have interfered far too much**_ The voice boomed from every angle possible, the figure of the long-dead Caesar disappearing into a hazy mist along with the scenery. _**"The prophecy has been shattered because of your meddling, at least a part of it has become unfulfilled because of your intermittency in our realm."**_

"YOUR realm? Are you talking about Kalos or whatever it is?"

" _ **I'm talking of the entire planet! Do you not know what is at stake here? Because of your mistakes, both yours and our worlds are in imminent danger of being destroyed."**_

"Wait…am I dead, I couldn't have died that easi-"

" _ **You're not dead though you came rather close, for such an experienced fighter you seem to rely more on reckless abandon than actual tactics. I'm going to say this once and only once. DO NOT FAIL THIS TIME, HUMAN, do not leave the Chosen One alone nor let him fall in battle. Your time to awake is arising…and despite what you hear, Lysandre isn't yet finished with his plan...look to the sundial for his objective."**_

* * *

With a heavy groan and the grace of a semi-truck; Six shifted from a hospital bed as he gathered his surroundings. It appeared that he was no longer in the city but rather inside of some sort of lab; the courier relaxed as soon as he saw Gannon alongside jumpsu-erm, Clemont, of whom had begun to beam as he noticed Six rising from his slumber.

"Thank goodness you're awake! We thought that root had killed you." As Six looked towards the boy, he noticed a rather odd feeling on his chest, some form of mesh had shielded Six's 'heart' from the majority of the damage; though still injured, Six hadn't suffered the same permanent effects that non-cyber heart owners would die from instantly. Six faced Gannon, a questioning look in his eyes.

"What the hell happened? I thought we had the guy on the ropes…" Gannon breathed in a hard sigh as he drunk from a coffee mug; the Audino checking the courier for vital signs as he gazed on.

"We did, but then he basically went full raider and blew himself up."

"Say what?" This left the courier shocked in disbelief.

"Yeah. I couldn't believe it either, somehow or another he had ended up taking his own li-'

"No way…It can't be that easy…How long was I out Gannon?"

"Well…."

"HOW LONG?"

"Fine…roughly 12 hours, give or take. Your heart took a lot of damage and I, being a doctor on biological matter, hadn't the knowledge that Clemont has in stock." Clemont butted in, his grin neverending.

"That's right! I'm amazed at how advanced your people are. I think I even caught a glimpse of a cybernetic spine!" Six shuddered at the boy as he expressed his grim fascination with Six's temporary cadaver.

"My spine, how far did I get pierced?" Gannon offered a small chart detailing the…details.

"It's a clean through-&-through, you would've died were it not for your floating brain buddies up in the lab."

Six had to admit that the brains may have saved his life more than once, looking to his wrist as the LIMA sat awkwardly; it immediately let out a screeching tone that forced everyone to cover their ears in pain.

Opening the message; it had come from the Big MT, specifically 8. Informing Six that much of Team Flare's satellite activity was now pointing towards one location due east of Lumiose.

"Gannon, what towns are there east of us?"

"Well…" Gannon took out his complementary map given as part of his assignment. "There's a 'Dendemill Town' off of Route 16, further east is Anistar City; famous for its ancient sundial…afterwards i-"

"Sundial?"

"Yep, an old ancient sundial allegedly from space, my money is on Martians personally."

"I remember something about a sundial…Lysandre isn't dead, Gannon; he just wants us to think that."

'Are you sure? I'm pretty sure he would've died from debris falling over him." Six hopped into a room containing his power armor and weaponry, his armor all but working as a result of the destruction beforehand.

"What if he played all of us Gannon? What if we did exactly what he planned for us to do? I mean, the ledge incident withholding." This caused the Wasteland Doctor to ponder whilst his Audino assistant finished her check-up, her blue eyes looking towards Gannon as a sign of completion. Out of the blue came Ulysses, annoyance plastered upon his face as he carried a Team Flare goon into the room.

"Don't you ever knock? It's rude to just barge into a ro-"

"Silence Doctor, I found this one planting a bomb. It seems our enemy isn't as dead as we thought. I've also more bad news." Six held his breathe as he held a cup of water.

"Please…how else could anything get any worse?"

"The Mojave has become the next target for our opponent."

* * *

"What, are you implying that he's found some way to transcend dimensions? That's purely science fiction." Spoke Gannon as he observed the injured Team Flare grunt holding his side in pain as he lay upon the medical bed. "Great, he's bleeding onto the tile, bravo Ulysses." As Gannon took to cleaning the mess, Six observed the map Gannon had in his possession.

"Ulysses, how long do you think it would take to reach Anistar?"

"Hmmm, between the forest and the rough terrain? I give it several days"

"Crap, if only the Verti hadn't crash-landed…We'd be there in-" It was then that Six noticed the giant hulking pile of armored spikes standing nearby. "What the hell?" Gannon replied as he noticed where Six was staring.

"I think its an evolution of your little armored buddy, Six. He helped carry you up here and made sure you weren't attacked by those roots."

"Well shit. William, is that you bud?" The pokemon stood tall and proud at his companion, letting out a roar as he called his name.

"Chestnaught!" Ulysses commented on the noticeable variety of protection based around the pokemon.

"Heavily armored, a defensive type it seems but there is evidence of counterstriking when needed. A spear in lieu of the shield perhaps?" Clemont butted in as he offered a nearby pokedex, its description rolling out immediately.

" **Chesnaught; The Shiny Spear Pokemon, and the final evolved form of Chespin. Its tackle is so powerful, it can overturn a 50-ton tank."**

"I'm calling bullshit on that one. The only thing that could overturn a tank that size would be a nuclear bomb's afterwave." Said Gannon with a look of disbelief. Six laughed slightly as he looked towards the Chesnaught with a joking look.

"Hah! I guess I should be lucky you're on our side, eh William?"

"Ches!"

It was at this time that Ash and company rolled in as Six and crew stepped into the lobby. Ash grinned as he noticed Six all patched up.

"Man, are we glad to see you guys okay. We've got some news, good and bad…" This wasn't good. Six could tell.

"Alright, lay the good on us." In waltzed Dixie acting as if she owned the place.

"Good news is we've got ol' reliable ready to fly! Turns out that darned monster couldn't aim worth a flip, only knocked our propeller outta rhythm."

"And the bad?" It was Ash's turn as he looked sadly at Six.

"Well…your Cazadore, Roxie…She won't be able to fly long-distance for a long time; her wing got hit by some debris after Lysandre…well…y'know."

"Whew! I thought she was dead was what I was being relayed…Lysandre isn't dead Ash, I think he's alive, well and angry that we just ruined everything."

"How? We all saw a building fall on him!"

"He wouldn't give up that easily kid. They never do." Six looked towards the Enclave Remnants as they stood by, awaiting new plans. "We're heading to Anistar City, to the east. Lysandre wants the Mojave for his own gain, I say we kick him in the teeth for thinking he can mess with our home."

The Remnants smiled as they prepared to board the Verti-bird. Six, Gannon and Ulysses following suit. Their respective pokemon plus Ash and his group coming along as well.

* * *

Lysandre stood thirsty for revenge; the armored behemoth ruining his plans more than once angered him to no end, no matter though. For Anistar City stood on the horizon; its sundial being the final component that would make short work of those who wronged him and prevented his plans for a new world from coming to fruition. Perhaps the behemoth's home would make a perfect example of his power…it was already a ruin in the first place, who would miss it?

* * *

Author's Note: Yes, these chapters are shorter than average. I'm still hopping back into the groove of things, I'm still a bit rusty and I'm aware that I'm not up to my A-Game. Towards the gentleman in the comments posting in all caps. **Stop it, get some help.**


End file.
